* 


I'M  IE 

LETTEB 

VOIJ. 


3  TAT 


THE 


LETTERS  OF  JUNIUS. 


FROM  THE  LATEST  LONDON  EDITION,. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


Stat  nominus  umbra. 


VOL.   I. 


JYEfV-YORK  : 

PUBLISHED  BY  HENRY  DURELL. 

• 

1621. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 
Dedication  to  the  English  Nation     -  -5 

Preface  -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -11 

Letter  I.  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  25 

II.  Sir  William  Draper's  answer      -         -         -  37 

III.  Junius  to  sir  William  Draper     -         -         -  4? 

IV.  Sir  William  Draper  to  Junius     -         -         -  48 
V.  To  sir  William  Draper       -  55 

VI.  To  Junius  from  sir  William  Draper     -         -  57 

VII.  To  sir  William  Draper      -         -         -         -  59 
VIII.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton              ...  62 

IX.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton    -        -        -        -  68 

X.  To  Mr.  Edward  Weston    -         -         .         -  72 

XI.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton    -         .         -        -  74 

XII.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton    -        -        -        -  79 

XIII.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  89 

XIV.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  93 
XV.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton     -         -         -         -  9t 

XVI.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public.  Advertiser       -  10" 

XVII.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  109 

XVIII.  To  sir  William  Blackstone         -         -         -  IIS 

XIX.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  119 

XX.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser      -  128 

XXI.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser      -  138 

XXII.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  140 

XXIII.  Junius  to  the  duke  of  Bedford    -        -        -  144 

XXIV.  Sir  William  Draper  to  Junius    -        -        -156 
XXV.  Junius  to  sir  William  Draper     -         -         -  159 

XXVI.  Sir  William  Draper  to  Junius     -         -         -  162 

XXVII.  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  168 

XXVIII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser      -  175 

XXIX.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  174 

XXX.  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  179 

XXXI.  Philo  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Pub.  Adv.  186 

XXXII.  Junius  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  190 

XXXIII.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton    -        -        -         -19? 

XXXIV.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton    -        -        -        -  19? 
XXXV.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser        -  198 


DEDICATION 


TO   THE 


ENGLISH  NATION. 


I  DEDICATE  to  you  a  collection  of  letters,  written  by 
one  of  yourselves,  for  the  common  benefit  of  us  alL  They 
would  never  have  grown  to  this  size  without  your  continued 
encouragement  and  applause.  To  me  they  originally  Owe 
nothing  but  a  healthy,  sanguine  constitution.  Under  your 
care  they  have  thriven :  to  you  they  are  indebted  for  what^ 
ever  strength  or  beauty  they  possess.  When  kings  and 
ministers  are  forgotten,  when  the  force  and  direction  of 
personal  satire  is  no  longer  understood,  and  when  measures 
are  only  felt  in  their  remotest  consequences  ;  this  book  will, 
I  believe,  be  found  to  contain  principles  worthy  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  posterity.  When  you  leave  the  unimpaired  heredi- 
tary freehold  to  your  children,  you  do  but  half  your  duty. 
Both  liberty  and  property  are  precarious,  unless  the  pos- 
sessors have  sense  and  spirit  enough  to  defend  them. 
This  is  not  the  language  of  vanity.  If  I  am  a  vain  man; 
my  gratification  lies  within  a  narrow  circle.  I  am  the  sole 
depository  of  my  own  secret,  and  it  shall  perish  with  me. 

If  an  honest,  and,  I  may  truly  affirm,  a  laborious  zeal  for 
the  public  service,  has  given  me  any  weight  in  your  esteem, 


vi  DEDICATION, 

let  me  exhort  and  conjure  you,  never  to  suffer  an  invasion 
of  your  political  constitution,  however  minute  the  instance 
may  appear,  to  pass  by,  without  a  determined  persevering 
resistance.  One  precedent  creates  another.  They  soon 
accumulate,  and  constitute  law.  What  yesterday  was  fact, 
to-day  is  doctrine.  Examples  are  supposed  to  justify  the 
most  dangerous  measures  ;  and  where  they  do  not  suit 
exactly,  the  defect  is  supplied  by  analogy.  Be  assured,  that 
the  laws,  which  protect  us  in  our  civil  rights,  grow  out  of 
the  constitution,  and  they  must  fall  or  flourish  with  it. 
This  is  not  the  cause  of  faction,  or  of  party,  or  of  any  indi- 
vidual, but  the  common  interest  of  every  man  in  Britain. 
Although  the  king  should  continue  to  support  his  present 
system  of  government,  the  period  is  not  very  distant  at 
which  you  will  have  the  means  of  redress  in  your  own 
power :  it  may  be  nearer,  perhaps,  than  any  of  us  expect ; 
and  I  would  warn  you  to  be  prepared  for  it.  The  king 
may  possibly  be  advised  to  dissolve  the  present  parliament 
a  year  or  two  before  it  expires  of  course,  and  precipitate  a 
new  election,  in  hopes  of  taking  the  nation  by  surprise.  If 
such  a  measure  be  in  agitation,  this  very  caution  may  defeat 
or  prevent  it. 

I  cannot  doubt  that  you  will  unanimously  assert  the 
freedom  of  election,  and  vindicate  your  exclusive  right 
to  choose  your  representatives.  But  other  questions  have 
been  started,  on  which  your  determination  should  be 
equally  clear  and  unanimous.  Let  it  be  impressed  upon 
your  minds,  let  it  be  instilled  into  your  children,  that 
the  liberty  of  the  press  is  the  palladium  of  all  the  civil, 
political,  and  religious  rights  of  an  Englishman  ;  and  that 
the  right  of  juries  to  return  a  general  verdict,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,  is  an  essential  part  of  our  constitution,  not  to 
be  controlled  or  limited  by  the  judges,  nor  in  any  shape 
questionable  by  the  legislature.     The  power  of  king,  lords, 


DEDICATION.  vU 

arid  commons,  is  not  an  arbitrary  power  :*  they  are  the 
trustees,  not  the  owners,  of  the  estate.  The  fee-simple  is 
in  us  :  they  cannot  alienate,  they  cannot  waste.  When 
we  say  that  the  legislature  is  supreme,  we  mean,  that  it 
is  the  highest  power  known  to  the  constitution;  that  it 
is  the  highest,  in  comparison  with  the  other  subordinate 
powers,  established  by  the  laws.  In  this  sense,  the  word 
supreme  is  relative,  not  absolute.  The  power  of  the 
legislature  is  limited,  not  only  by  the  general  rules  of  na- 
tural justice,  and  the  welfare  of  the  community,  but  by 
the  forms  and  principles  of  our  particular  constitution. 
If  this  doctrine  be  not  true,  we  must  admit  that  king, 
lords,  and  commons,  have  no  rule  to  direct  their  resolu- 
tions, but  merely  their  own  will  and  pleasure  :  they  might 
unite  the  legislative  and  executive  power  in  the  same 
hands,  and  dissolve  the  constitution  by  an  act  of  parlia- 
ment. But  I  am  persuaded  you  will  not  leave  it  to  the 
choice  of  seven  hundred  persons,  notoriously  corrupted  by 

*  The  positive  denial  of  an  arbitrary  power  being  vested 
in  the  legislature,  is  not,  in  fact,  a  new  doctrine.  When 
the  earl  of  Lindsay,  in  the  year  1675,  brought  in  a  bill 
into  the  house  of  lords,  "  To  prevent  the  dangers 
which  might  arise  from  persons  disaffected  to  govern- 
ment," by  which  an  oath  and  penalty  was  to  be  imposed 
upon  the  members  of  both  houses ;  it  was  affirmed,  in  a 
protest,  signed  by  twenty-three  lay  peers,  (my  lords  the 
bishops  were  not  accustomed  to  protest,)  "  That  the  pri- 
vilege of  sitting  and  voting  in  parliament  was  an  honour 
they  had  by  birth,  and  a  right  so  inherent  in  them,  and 
inseparable  from  them,  that  nothing  could  take  it  away, 
but  what,  by  the  law  of  the  land,  must  withal  take  away 
their  lives,  and  corrupt  their  blood."  These  noble  peers, 
whose  names  are  a  reproach  to  their  posterity,  have,  in 
this  instance,  solemnly  denied  the  power  of  parliament 
to  alter  the  constitution.  Under  a  particular  proposition, 
they  have  asserted  a  general  truth,  in  which  every  man  in 
England  is  concerned. 


viii  DEDICATION. 

the  crown,  whether  seven  millions  of  their  equals  shall  be 
free  men  or  slaves.  The  certainty  of  forfeiting  their" own 
rights,  when  they  sacrifice  those  of  the  nation,  is  no  check 
to  a  brutal,  degenerate  mind.  Without  insisting  upon 
the  extravagant  concession  made  to  Harry  the  Eighth, 
there  are  instances,  in  the  history  of  other  countries,  of  a 
formal,  deliberate  surrender  of  the  public  liberty  into  the 
hands  of  the  sovereign.  If  England  does  not  share  the 
same  fate,  it  i«  because  we  have  better  resources  than  in 
the  virtue  of  either  house  of  parliament. 

I  said,  that  the  liberty  of  the  press  is  the  palladium  of 
all  your  rights,  and  that  the  right  of  the  juries  to  return 
a  general  verdict,  is  part  of  your  constitution.  To  pre- 
serve the  whole  system,  you  must  correct  your  legislature* 
With  regard  to  any  influence  of  the  constituent  over  the 
conduct  of  the  representative,  there  is  little  difference 
between  a  seat  in  parliament  for  seven  years  and  a  seat  for 
life.  The  prospect  of  your  resentment  is  too  remote  ;  and, 
although  the  last  session  of  a  septennial  parliament  be 
usually  employed  in  courting  the  favour  of  the  people  ; 
consider,  that  at  this  rate,  your  representatives  have  six 
years  for  offence,  and  but  one  for  atonement.  A  death- 
bed repentance  seldom  reaches  to  restitution.  If  you  re- 
flect, that,  in  the  changes  of  administration  which  have 
marked  and  disgraced  the  present  reign,  although  yout 
warmest  patriots  have,  in  their  turn,  been  invested  with  the 
lawful  and  unlawful  authority  of  the  crown,  and  though 
other  reliefs  or  improvements  have  been  held  forth  to  the 
people,  yet  that  no  one  man  in  office  has  ever  promoted  or 
encouraged  a  bill  for  shortening  the  duration  of  parlia- 
ments, but  that  (whoever  was  minister)  the  opposition  to 
this  measure,  ever  since  the  septennial  act  passed,  has  been 
constant  and  uniform  on  the  part  of  government — you 
cannot  but  conclude,  without  the  possibility  of  a  doubt, 
that  long  parliaments  are  the  foundation  of  the  undue  ia» 


DEDICATION.  ix 

fluence  of  the  crown.  This  influence  answers  every  pur- 
pose of  arbitrary  power  to  the  crown,  with  an  expense 
and  oppression  to  the  people,  which  would  be  unnecessary 
in  an  arbitrary  government.  The  best  of  our  ministers 
find  it  the  easiest  and  most  compendious  mode  of  conduct- 
ing the  king's  affairs  ;  and  all  ministers  have  a  general 
interest  in  adhering  to  a  system,  which,  of  itself,  is  suffi- 
cient to  support  them  in  office,  without  any  assistance 
from  personal  virtue,  popularity,  labour,  abilities,  or  ex- 
perience. It  promises  every  gratifi cation  to  avarice  and 
ambition,  and  secures  impunity.  These  are  truths  un- 
questionable :  if  they  make  no  impression,  it  is  because 
they  are  too  vulgar  and  notorious.  But  the  inattention 
or  indifference  of  the  nation  has  continued  too  long.  You 
ape  roused  at  last  to  a  sense  of  your  danger  :  the  remedy 
will  soon  be  in  your  power.  If  Junius  lives,  you  shall 
often  be  reminded  of  it.  If,  when  the  opportunity  pre- 
sents itself,  you  neglect  to  do  your  duty  to  yourselves  and 
to  posterity,  to  God  and  to  your  country,  I  shall  have  one 
consolation  left,  in  common  with  the  meanest  and  basest  of 
mankind  :  Civil  liberty  may  still  last  the  life  of 

JUNIUS. 
a  2 


PREFACE. 


THE  encouragement  given  to  a  multitude  of  spurious, 
mangled  publications  of  the  "  Letters  of  Junius,"  per- 
suades me,  that  a  complete  edition,  corrected  and  improved 
by  the  author,  will  be  favourably  received.  The  printer 
will  readily  acquit  me  of  any  view  to  my  own  profit.  I 
undertake  this  troublesome  task  merely  to  serve  a  man  who 
has  deserved  well  of  me  and  of  the  public ;  and  who,  on 
my  account,  has  been  exposed  to  an  expensive,  tyrannical 
prosecution.  For  these  reasons,  I  give  to  Mr.  Henry  Samp- 
son Woodfall,  and  to  him  alone,  my  right,  interest,  and 
property,  in  these  letters,  as  fully  and  completely,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  an  author  can  possibly  convey  his 
property  in  his  own  works  to  another.  , 

This  edition  contains  all  the  letters  of  Junius,  Philo 
Junius,  and  of  Sir  William  Draper  and  Mr.  Home  to 
Junius,  with  their  respective  dates,  and  according  to  the 
order  in  which  they  appeared  in  the  Public  Advertiser. 
The  auxiliary  part  of  Philo  Junius  was  indispensably  neces- 
sary to  defend  or  explain  particular  passages  in  Junius,  in 
answer  to  plausible  objections  ;  but  the  subordinate  char- 
acter is  never  guilty  of  the  indecorum  of  praising  his  prin- 
cipal. The  fraud  was  innocent,  and  I  always  intended  to 
explain  it.  The  notes  will  be  found  not  only  useful  but 
necessary.     References  to  facts  not  generally   known,  or 


xii  PREFACE. 

allusions  to  the  current  report  or  opinion  of  the  day,  are, 
in  a  little  time,  unintelligible :  yet  the  reader  will  not  find 
himself  overloaded  with  explanations  :  I  was  not  born  to  be 
a  commentator,  even  upon  my  own  works. - 

It  remains  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
press.  The  daring  spirit  by  which  these  letters  are  sup- 
posed to  be  distinguished,  seems  to  require  that  some- 
thing serious  should  be  said  in  their  defence.  I  am  no 
lawyer  by  profession,  nor  do  I  pretend  to  be  more  deeply 
read  than  every  English  gentleman  should  be,  in  the  laws 
of  his  country.  If,  therefore,  the  principles  I  maintain  are 
truly  constitutional,  I  shall  not  think  myself  answered, 
though  I  should  be  convicted  of  a  mistake  in  terms,  or  of 
misapplying  the  language  of  the  law.  I  speak  to  the  plain 
understanding  of  the  people,  and  appeal  to  their  honest, 
liberal  construction  of  me. 

Good  men,  to  whom  alone  I  address  myself,  appear  to 
me  to  consult  their  piety  as  little  as  their  judgment  and 
experience,  when  they  admit  the  great  and  essential  advan- 
tages accruing  to  society  from  the  freedom  of  the  press,  yet 
indulge  themselves  in  peevish  or  passionate  exclamations 
against  the  abuses  of  it.  Betraying  an  unreasonable  ex- 
pectation of  benefits,  pure  and  entire  from  any  human 
institution,  they,  in  effect,  arraign  the  goodness  of  Provi- 
dence, and  confess  that  they  are  dissatisfied  with  the  com- 
mon lot  of  humanity.  In  the  present  instance,  they  really 
create  to  their  own  minds,  or  greatly  exaggerate  the  evil 
they  complain  of.  The  laws  of  England  provide  as  effec- 
tually as  any  human  laws  can  do  for  the  protection  of  the 
subject,  in  his  reputation,  as  well  as  in  his  person  and  pro- 
perty. If  the  characters  of  private  men  are  insulted  or 
injured,  a  double  remedy  is  open  to  them  by  action  and  in- 
dictment :  if,  through  indolence,  false  shame,  or  indiffer- 
ence, they  will  not  appeal  to  the  laws  of  their  country, 
they  fail  in  their  duty  to  society,  and  are  unjust  to  them- 


PREFACE.  xiii 

selves  :  if,  from  an  unwarrantable  distrust  of  the  integrity 
of  juries,  they  would  wish  to  obtain  justice  by  any  mode  of 
proceeding  more  summary  than  a  trial  by  their  peers,  I  do 
not  scruple  to  affirm,  that  they  are  in  effect,  greater  enemies 
to  themselves  than  to  the  libeller  they  prosecute. 

With  regard  to  strictures  upon  the  characters  of  men  in 
office,  and  the  measures  of  government,  the  case  is  a  little 
different.  A  considerable  latitude  must  be  allowed  in  the 
discussion  of  public  affairs,  or  the  liberty  of  the  press  will 
be  of  no  beneiitto  society.  As  the  indulgence  of  private 
malice  and  personal  slander  should  be  checked  and  resisted 
by  every  legal  means,  so  a  constant  examination  into  the 
characters  and  conduct  of  ministers  and  magistrates  should 
be  equally  promoted  and  encouraged.  They  who  conceive 
that  our  newspapers  are  no  restraint  upon  bad  men,  or  im- 
pediment to  the  execution  of  bad  measures,  know  nothing 
of  this  country.  In  that  state  of  abandoned  servility  and 
prostitution,  to  which  the  undue  influence  of  the  crown  has 
reduced  the  other  branches  of  the  legislature,  our  ministers 
and  magistrates  have,  in  reality,  little  punishment  to  fear, 
and  few  difficulties  to  contend  with,  beyond  the  censure  of 
the  press,  and  the  spirit  of  resistance  which  it  excites  amon g 
the  people.  While  this  censorial  power  is  maintained,  (to 
speak  in  the  words  of  a  most  ingenious  foreigner)  both  im- 
nisler  and  magistrate  are  compelled,  in  almost  every v  in- 
stance to  choose  between  his  duty  and  his  reputation.  A 
dilemma  of  this  kind  perpetually  before  him,  will  net} 
indeed  work  a  miracle  on  his  heart,  but  it  will  assuredly 
operate,  in  some  degree,  upon  his  conduct.  At  all  events, 
these  are  not  times  to  admit  of  any  relaxation  in  the  little 
discipline  we  have  left. 

But  it  is  alleged,  that  the  licentiousness  of  the  press  is 
carried  beyond  all  bounds  of  decency  and  truth ;  that  our 
excellent  ministers  are  continually  exposed  to  the  public 
hatred  or  derision:  that  in  prosecutions  for  libels  on  govern* 


xlv  PREFACE. 

ment,  juries  are  partial  to  the  popular  side ;  and  that,  hi 
the  most  flagrant  cases,  a  verdict  cannot  be  obtained  for  the 
king.  If  the  premises  were  admitted,  I  should  deny  the 
conclusion.  It  is  not  true  that  the  temper  of  the  times  has 
in  general  an  undue  influence  over  the  conduct  of  juries  : 
on  the  contrary,  many  signal  instances  may  be  produced  of 
verdicts  returned  for  the  king,  when  the  inclinations  of  the 
people  led  strongly  to  an  undistinguished  opposition  to  go- 
vernment. Witness  the  cases  of  Mr.  Wilkes  and  Mr.  Almon. 
In  the  late  prosecution  of  the  printers  of  my  address  to  a 
great  personage,  the  juries  were  never  fairly  dealt  with. 
Lord  chief  justice  Mansfield,  conscious  that  the  paper  in 
question  contained  no  treasonable  or  libellous  matter,  and 
that  the  severest  parts  of  it,  however  painful  to  the  king  or 
offensive  to  his  servants,  were  strictly  true,  would  fain  have 
restricted  the  jury  to  the  finding  of  special  facts,  which,  as 
to  guilty  or  not  guilty,  were  merely  indifferent.  This  par- 
ticular motive,  combined  with  his  general  purpose  to  con- 
tract the  power  of  juries,  will  account  for  the  charge  he 
delivered  in  Woodfall's  trial.  He  told  the  jury,  in  so  many 
words,  that  they  had  nothing  to  determine,  except  the  fact 
of  printing  and  publishing,  and  whether  or  no  the  blanks  or 
inuendoes  were  properly  filled  up  in  the  information ;  but 
that,  whether  the  defendant  had  committed  a  crime  or  not, 
was  no  matter  of  consideration  to  twelve  men,  who  yet, 
upon  their  oaths,  were  to  pronounce  their  peer  guilty  or 
not  guilty.  When  we  hear  such  nonsense  delivered  from 
the  bench,  and  find  it  supported  by  a  laboured  train  of  so- 
phistry, which  a  plain  understanding  is  unable  to  follow,  and 
which  an  unlearned  jury,  however  it  may  shock  their  rea- 
son, cannot  be  supposed  qualified  to  refute,  can  it  be  won- 
dered that  they  should  return  a  verdict  perplexed,  absurd, 
or  imperfect  ?  Lord  Mansfield  has  not  yet  explained  to  the 
world,  why  he  accepted  of  a  verdict  which  the  court  after- 
wards set  aside  as  illegal ;  and  which,  as  it  took  no  notice  of 


PREFACE.  xv 

the  inuendoes,  did  not  even  correspond  with  his  own  charge. 
If  he  had  known  his  duty,  he  should  have  sent  the  jury 
back.  I  speak  advisedly,  and  am  well  assured,  that  no 
lawyer  of  character,  in  Westminster-hall,  will  contradict 
me.  To  show  the  falsehood  of  lord  Mansfield's  doctrine, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  the  merits  of  the  paper 
which  produced  the  trial.  If  every  line  of  it  were  treason, 
his  charge  to  the  jury  would  still  be  false,  absurd,  illegal, 
and  unconstitutional.  If  I  stated  the  merits  of  my  letter  to 
the  king,  I  should  imitate  lord  Mansfield,  and  travel*  out  of 


*  The  following  quotation  from  a  speech  delivered  by 
lord  Chatham,  on  the  11th  of  December,  1770,  is  taken 
with  exactness.  The  reader  will  find  it  curious  in  itself, 
and  very  fit  to  be  inserted  here.  "  My  lords,  the  verdict 
given  in  Woodfall's  trial  was,  <  guilty  of  printing  and  pub- 
lishing only ;'  upon  which  two  motions  were  made  in  court ; 
one,  in  arrest  of  judgment,  by  the  defendant's  counsel., 
grounded  upon  the  ambiguity  of  the  verdict ;  the  other,  by 
the  counsel  for  the  crown,  for  a  rule  upon  the  defendant, 
to  show  cause  why  the  verdict  should  not  be  entered  up 
according  to  the  legal  import  of  the  words.  On  both  mo- 
tions a  rule  was  granted ;  and  soon  after  the  matter  was 
argued  before  the  court  of  king's  bench.  The  noble  judge, 
when  he  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court  upon  the  ver- 
dict, went  regularly  through  the  whole  of  the  proceedings 
at  Nisi  Prius,  as  well  the  evidence  that  had  been  given,  as 
his  own  charge  to  the  jury.  This  proceeding  would  have 
been  very  proper,  had  a  motion  been  made  on  either  side 
for  a  new  trial ;  because  either  a  verdict  given  contrary  to 
evidence,  or  an  improper  charge  by  the  judge  at  Nisi  Prius, 
is  held  to  be  a  sufficient  ground  for  granting  a  new  trial. 
But  when  a  motion  is  made  in  arrest  of  judgment,  or  for 
establishing  the  verdict,  by  entering  it  up  according  to  the 
legal  import  of  the  words,  it  must  be  on  the  ground  of 
something  appearing  on  the  face  of  the  record  ;  and  the 
court,  in  considering  whether  the  verdict  shall  be  estab- 
lished or  not,  are  so  confined  to  the  record,  that  they  can- 
not take  notice  of  any  thing  that  does  not  appear  on  the 


xvi  PREFACE. 

the  record.  When  law  and  reason  speak  plainly,  we  do  not 
want  authority  to  direct  our  understandings.  Yet,  for  the 
honour  of  the  profession,  I  am  content  to  oppose  one  lawyer 
to  another ;  especially  when  it  happens  that  the  kings  at- 
torney-general has  virtually  disclaimed  the  doctrine  by 
which  the  chief  justice  meant  to  ensure  success  to  the  pro- 
secution. The  opinion  of  the  plantiff  's  counsel  (however 
it  may  be  otherwise  insignificant)  is  weighty  in  the  scale  of 
the  defendant.  My"  lord  chief  justice  de  Grey,  who  filed 
the  information  ex  officio,  is  directly  with  me.  If  he  had 
concurred  in  lord  Mansfield's  doctrine,  the  trial  must  have 
been  a  very  short  one.  The  facts  were  either  admitted  by 
Woodfall's  counsel,  or  easily  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  jury ;  but  Mr.  de  Grey,  far  from  thinking  he  should 
acquit  himself  of  his  duty,  by  barely  proving  the  facts, 
entered  largely,  and  I  confess,  Hot  without  ability,  into 
the  demerits  of  the  paper,  which  he  called  a  seditious  libel. 
He  dwelt  but  lightly  upon  those  points  which  (according  to 
lord  Mansfield)  were  the  only  matter  of  consideration  to  the 
jury.  The  criminal  intent,  the  libellous  matter,  the  perni- 
cious tendency  of  the  paper  itself,  were  the  topics  on  which 
he  principally  insisted,  and  of  which,  for  more  than  an  hour, 
he  tortured  his  faculties  to  convince  the  jury.  If  he  agreed- 
in  opinion  with  lord  Mansfield,  his  discourse  was  imperti- 
nent, ridiculous,  and  unreasonable.  But  understanding  the 
law  as  I  do,  what  he  said  was  at  least  consistent,  and  to  the 
purpose. 

face  of  it ;  in  the  legal  phrase,  they  cannot  travel  out  of  the 
record.  The  noble  judge  did  travel  out  of  the  record ; 
and  I  affirm,  that  his  discourse  was  irregular,  extrajudicial, 
and  unprecedented.  His  apparent  motive  for  doing  what 
he  knew  to  be  wrong,  was  that  he  might  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  telling  the  public  extrajudicially,  that  "the  other 
three  judges  concurred  in  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  his 
charge." 


PREFACE.  xvii 

If  any  honest  man  should  still  be  inclined  to  leave  the 
construction  of  libels  to  the  court,  I  would  entreat  him  to 
consider  what  a  dreadful  complication  of  hardships  he  im- 
poses upon  his  fellow  subjects.  In  the  first  place,  the  pro- 
secution commences  by  information  of  an  officer  of  the 
crown,  not  by  the  regular  constitutional  mode  of  indict- 
ment before  a  grand  jury.  As  the  fact  is  usually  admitted, 
or,  in  general  can  easily  be  proved,  the  office  of  the  petty 
jury  is  nugatory  :  the  court  then  judges  of  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  offence,  and  determines,  ad  arbitrium,  the 
quantum  of  the  punishment,  from  a  small  fine  to  a  heavy 
one,  to  repeated  whipping,  to  pillory,  and  unlimited  impri- 
sonment. Cutting  off  ears  and  noses  might  still  be  inflicted 
by  a  resolute  judge  :  but  I  will  be  candid  enough  to  suppose 
that  penalties,  so  apparently  shocking  to  humanity,  would 
not  be  hazarded  in  these  times.  In  all  other  criminal  pro* 
seoutions  the  jury  decides  upon  the  fact  and  the  crime  in 
one  word,  and  the  court  pronounces  a  certain  sentence, 
which  is  the  sentence  of  the  law,  not  of  the  judge.  If  lord 
Mansfield's  doctrine  be  received,  the  jury  must  either  find  a 
verdict  of  acquittal,  contrary  to  evidence,  which,  I  can  con- 
ceive, might  be  done  by  very  conscientious  men,  rather- 
than  trust  a  fellow-creature  to  lord  Mansfield's  mercy  j 
or  they  must  leave  to  the  court  two  offices,  never  but 
in  this  instance  united,  of  finding  guilty,  and  awarding 
punishment. 

"  But,"  says  this  honest  lord  chief  justice,  "  if  the  paper 
be  not  criminal,  the  defendant  (though  found  guilty  by  his 
peers)  is  in  no  danger,  for  he  may  move  the  court  in  arrest 
of  judgment."  True,  my  good  lord ;  but  who  is  to  determine 
upon  the  motion  ?  Is  not  the  court  still  to  decide,  whether 
judgment  shall  be  entered  up  or  not  ?  and  is  not  the  de- 
fendant this  way  as  effectually  deprived  of  judgment  by  his 
peers,  as  if  he  \v<  iv  tried  in  a  court  of  civil  law,  or  in  the 
chambers  of  the  inquisition?  It  is  you,  mv  lord,  who  then 

1 


kvili  PREFACE. 

try  the  crime,  not  the  jury.  As  to  the  probable  effect  of 
the  motion  in  arrest  of  judgment,  I  shall  only  observe,  that 
no  reasonable  man  would  be  so  eager  to  possess  himself  of 
the  invidious  power  of  inflicting  punishment,  if  he  were  not 
predetermined  to  make  use  of  it. 

Again,  we  are  told  that  judge  and  jury  have  a  distinct 
office ;  that  the  jury  is  to  find  the  fact,  and  the  judge  to 
deliver  the  law.  "  De  jure  respondent  judices,  de  facto 
jurati."  The  dictum  is  true,  though  not  in  the  sense  given 
to  it  by  lord  Mansfield.  The  jury  are  undoubtedly  to  de- 
termine the  fact ;  that  is,  whether  the  defendant  did  or 
did  not  commit  the  crime  charged  against  him.  The 
judge  pronounces  the  sentence  annexed  by  law  to  that  fact 
so  found ;  and  if,  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  any  question 
of  law  arises,  both  the  counsel  and  the  jury  must,  of  necessi- 
ty, appeal  to  the  judge,  and  leave  it  to  his  decision.  An 
exception,  or  plea  in  bar,  may  be  allowed  by  the  court ;  but, 
when  issue  is  joined,  and  the  jury  have  received  their 
charge,  it  is  not  possible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  for  them 
fo  separate  the  law  from  the  fact,  unless  they  think  proper 
to  return  a  special  verdict. 

It  has  also  been  alleged,  that,  although  a  common  jury 
are  sufficient  to  determine  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  they  are 
not  qualified  to  comprehend  the  meaning,  or  to  judge  of 
the  tendency  of  a  seditious  libel.  In  answer  to  this  objec- 
tion (which,  if  well  founded,  would  prove  nothing  as  to  the 
strict  right  of  returning  a  general  verdict)  I  might  safely 
deny  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  Englishmen,  of  that  rank 
from  which  juries  are  usually  taken,  are  not  so  illiterate  as 
(to  serve  a  particular  purpose)  they  are  now  represented  : 
or,  admitting  the  fact,  let  a  special  jury  be  summoned  in 
all  cases  of  difficulty  and  importance,  and  the  objection  is 
removed.  But  the  truth  is,  that  if  a  paper,  supposed  to  be 
a  libel  upon  government,  be  so  obscurely  worded,  that 
twelve  common  men  cannot  possibly   see  the   seditious 


PREFACED  Kte 

meaning  and  tendency  of  it,  it  is  in  effect  no  libel.  It  can- 
not inflame  the  minds  of  the  people,  nor  alienate  their 
affections  from  government ;  for  they  no  more  understand 
what  it  means,  than  if  it  were  published  in  a  language  un- 
known to  them. 

Upon  the  whole  matter,  it  appears,  to  my  understanding, 
clear,  beyond  a  doubt,  that,  if,  in  any  future  prosecution 
for  a  seditious  libel,  the  jury  should  bring  in  a  verdict  of 
acquittal,  not  warranted  by  the  evidence,  it  will  be  owing 
to  the  false  and  absurd  doctrines  laid  down  by  lord  Mans- 
field. Disgusted  at  the  odious  artifices  made  use  of  by  the 
judge  to  mislead  and  perplex  them,  guarded  against  his 
sophistry,  and  convinced  of  the  falsehood  of  his  assertions, 
they  may,  perhaps,  determine  to  thwart  his  detestable  pur- 
pose, and  defeat  him  at  any  rate.  To  him,  at  least,  they 
will  do  substantial  justice.  Whereas,  if  the  whole  charge 
laid  in  the  information  be  fairly  and  honestly  submitted  to 
the  jury,  there  is  no  reason  whatsoever  to  presume  that 
twelve  men,  upon  their  oaths,  will  not  decide  impartially 
between  the  king  and  the  defendant.  The  numerous  in- 
stances, in  our  state  trials,  of  verdicts  recovered  for  the 
king,  sufficiently  refute  the  false  and  scandalous  imputa- 
tions thrown,  by  the  abettors  of  lord  Mansfield,  upon 
the  integrity  of  juries.  But,  even  admitting  the  supposi- 
tion, that,  in  times  of  universal  discontent,  arising  from 
the  notorious  mal-administration  of  public  afiairs,  a  sedi- 
tious writer  should  escape  punishment,  it  makes  nothing 
against  my  general  argument.  If  juries  are  fallible,  to 
what  other  tribunal  shall  we  appeal  ?  If  juries  cannot 
safely  be  trusted,  shall  we  unite  the  offices  of  judge  and 
jury,  so  wisely  divided  by  the  constitution,  and  trust  im- 
plicitly to  lord  Mansfield  ?  Are  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
king's  bench  more  likely  to  be  unbiassed  and  impartial 
than  twelve  yeomen,  burgesses,  or  gentlemen,  taken  indif- 
ferently from  the  country  at  large  ?     Or,  in  short,  airdi 


xx  PREFACE. 

there  be  no  decision,  until  we  have  instituted  a  tribunal 
from  which  no  possible  abuse  or  inconvenience  whatsoever 
can  arise  ?  If  I  am  not  grossly  mistaken,  these  questions 
carry  a  decisive  answer  along  with  them. 

Having  cleared  the  freedom  of  the  press  from  a  re- 
straint equally  unnecessary  and  illegal,  I  return  to  the 
use  which  has  been  made  of  it  in  the  present  publication. 
>  National  reflections,  I  confess,  are  not  justified  in  theory, 
nor  upon  any  general  principles.  To  know  how  well  they 
are  deserved,  and  how  justly  they  have  been  applied,  we 
must  have  the  evidence  of  facts  before  us.  We  must  be  con- 
versant with  the  Scots  in  private  life,  and  observe  their 
principles  of  acting  to  us  and  to  each  other  ;  the  character- 
istic prudence,  the  selfish  nationality,  the  indefatigable 
smile,  the  persevering  assiduity,  the  everlasting  profession 
©f  a  discreet  and  moderate  resentment.  If  the  instance 
were  not  too  important  for  an  experiment,  it  might  not  be 
amiss  to  confide  a  little  in  their  integrity.  Without  any 
abstract  reasoning  upon  causes  and  effects,  we  shall  soon  be 
eonvinced,  by  experience,  that  the  Scots,  transplanted  from 
their  own  country,  are  always  a  distinct  and  separate  body 
from  the  people  who  receive  them.  In  other  settlements, 
they  only  love  themselves  :  in  England  they  cordially  love 
themselves,  and  as  cordially  hate  their  neighbours.  For 
the  remainder  of  their  good  qualities  I  must  appeal  to  the 
reader's  observation,  unless  he  will  accept  of  my  lord  Bar- 
rington's  authority  in  a  letter  to  the  late  lord  Melcombe^ 
published  by  Mr.  Lee :  he  expresses  himself  with  a  truth 
and  accuracy  not  very  common  in  his  lordship's  lucubrations. 
"  And  Cockbum,  like  most  of  his  countrymen,  is  as  abject 
to  those  above  him,  as  he  is  insolent  to  those  below  him." 
I  am  far  from  meaning  to  impeach  the  articles  of  the  union. 
If  the  true  spirit  of  those  articles  were  religiously  adhered 
to,  we  should  not  see  such  a  multitude  of  Scotch  commoners 
n  the  lower  house,  as  representatives  of  English  boroughs* 


PREFACE.  xxi 

while  not  a  single  Scotch  borough  is  ever  represented  by  a« 
Englishman  :  we  should  not  see  English  peerages  given  to 
Scotch  ladies,  or  to  the  elder  sons  of  Scotch  peers,  and  the 
number  of  sixteen  doubled  and  trebled  by  a  scandalous  eva- 
sion of  the  act  of  union.  If  it  should  ever  be  thought 
adviseable  to  dissolve  an  act,  the  violation  or  observance  of 
which  is  invariably  directed  by  the  advantage  and  interest 
of  the  Scots,  I  shall  say  very  sincerely,  with  Sir  Edward 
Coke,*  "  When  poor  England  stood  alone,  and  had  not 
the  access  of  another  kingdom,  and  yet  had  more  and  as 
potent  enemies  as  h  now  hath,  yet  the  king  of  England 
prevailed." 

Some  opinion  may  now  be  expected  from  me,  upon  a 
point  of  equal  delicacy  to  the  writer,  and  hazard  to  the 
printer.  When  the  character  of  the  chief  magistrate  is  in 
question,  more  must  be  understood  than  may  be  safely  ex- 
pressed. If  it  be  really  a  part  of  our  constitution,  and  not 
a  mere  dictum  of  the  law,  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong, 
ft  is  not  the  only  instance,  in  the  wisest  of  human  institu- 
tions,  where  theory  is  at  variance  with  practice.  That  the 
sovereign  of  this  country  is  not  amenable  to  any  form  of 
trial  known  to  the  laws,  is  unquestionable  :  but  exemption 
from  punishment  is  a  singular  privilege  annexed  to  the 
royal  character,  and  no  way  excludes  the  possibility  of  de- 
serving it.  How  long,  and  to  what  extent,  a  king  of  Eng- 
land may  be  protected  by  the  forms,  when  he  violates  the 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  deserves  to  be  considered.  A 
mistake  in  this  matter  proved  fatal  to  Charles  and  his  son. 
For  my  own  part,  far  from  thinking  that  the  king  can  do 
no  wrong,  far  from  suffering  myself  to  be  deterred  or  im- 
posed upon  by  the  language  of  forms,  in  opposition  to  the 
substantial  evidence  of  truth  ;  if  it  were  my  misfortune  to 


*  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  400. 


xxii  PREFACE. 

live  under  the  inauspicious  reign  of  a  prince,  whose  whole 
life  was  employed  in  one  base,  contemptible  struggle  with 
the  free  spirit  of  his  people,  or  in  the  detestable  endeavour 
to  corrupt  their  moral  principles,  I  would  not  scruple  t« 
declare  to  him,  "  Sir,  you  alone  are  the  author  of  the  great- 
est wrong  to  your  subjects  and  to  yourself.  Instead  of 
reigning  in  the  hearts  of  your  people,  instead  of  commanding 
their  lives  and  fortunes  through  the  medium  of  their  affec- 
tions ;  has  not  the  strength  of  the  crown,  whether  influence 
or  prerogative,  been  uniformly  exerted,  for  eleven  years 
Jogether,  to  support  a  narrow,  pitiful  system  of  government 
which  defeats  itself,  and  answers  no  one  purpose  of  real 
power,  profit,  or  personal  satisfaction  to  you?  With  the 
greatest  unappropriated  revenue  of  any  prince  in  Europe- 
have  we  not  seen  you  reduced  to  such  vile  and  sordid  dis, 
tresses,  as  would  have  conducted  any  other  man  to  a  prison  ? 
With  a  great  military,  and  the  greatest  naval  power  in  the 
known  world,  have  not  foreign  nations  repeatedly  insulted 
you  with  impunity  ?  Is  it  not  notorious  that  the  vast  reve- 
nues, extorted  from  the  labour  and  industry  of  your  sub- 
jects, and  given  you  to  do  honour  to  yourself  and  to  the 
nation,  are  dissipated  in  corrupting  their  representatives  ? 
Are  you  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  and  do  you  ex- 
clude all  the  leading  Whig  families  from  your  councils  f 
Do  you  profess  to  govern  according  to  law,  and  is  it  consis- 
tent with  that  profession  to  impart  your  confidence  and  af- 
fection to  those  men  only  who,  though  now,  perhaps 
detached  from  the  desperate  cause  of  the  pretender,  are 
marked  in  this  country  by  an  hereditary  attachment  to  high 
and  arbitrary  principles  of  government  ?  Are  you  so  infatu- 
ated as  to  take  the  sense  of  your  people  from  the  representa- 
tion of  ministers,  or  from  the  shouts  of  a  mob,  notoriously 
hired  to  surround  your  coach,  or  stationed  at  a  theatre  ? 
And  if  you  are,  in  reality,  that  public  man,  that  king,  that 
magistrate,  which  these  questions  suppose  you  to  be,  is  it 


PREFACE.  xxi/i 

any  answer  to  your  people,  to  say,  that  among  your 
domestics  you  are  good-humoured,  that  to  one  lady  yon 
are  faithful,  that  to  your  children  you  are  indulgent  r 
Sir,  the  man  who  addresses  you  in  these  terms,  is  your  best 
friend  :  he  would  willingly  hazard  his  life  in  defence  of 
your  title  to  the  crown  ;  and,  if  power  be  your  object,  will 
still  show  you  how  possible  it  is  for  a  king  of  England,  by 
the  noblest  means,  to  be  the  most  absolute  prince  in  Europe, 
You  have  no  enemies,  sir,  but  those  who  persuade  you  to 
aim  at  power  without  right,  and  who  think  it  flattery  to  telt 
you,  that  the  character  of  king  dissolves  the  natural  relatiou 
between  guilt  and  punishment." 

I  cannot  conceive  that  there  is  a  heart  so  callous,  or  au 
understanding  so  depraved,  as  to  attend  to  a  discourse  of 
this  nature,  and  not  to  feel  the  force  of  it.  But  where  is 
the  man,  among  those  who  have  access  to  the  closet,  reso- 
lute and  honest  enough  to  deliver  it  ?  The  liberty  of  the 
press  is  our  only  resource  :  it  will  command  an  audience 
when  every  honest  man  in  the  kingdom  is  excluded.  This 
glorious  privilege  may  be  a  security  to  the  king  as  well  as 
a  resource  to  his  people.  Had  there  been  no  star-chamber, 
there  would  have  been  no  rebellion  against  Charles  the 
First.  The  constant  censure  and  admonition  of  the  press 
would  have  corrected  his  conduct,  prevented  a  civil  war, 
and  saved  him  from  an  ignominious  death.  I  am  no  friend 
to  the  doctrine  of  precedents,  exclusive  of  right ;  though 
lawyers  often  tell  us,  that  whatever  has  been  once  done 
may  lawfully  be  done  again.  I  shall  conclude  this  Preface 
with  a  quotation,  applicable  to  the  subject,  from  a  foreign 
writer,*  whose  Essay  on  the  English  Constitution  I  beg  leave 
to  recommend  to  the  public,  as  a  performance  deep,  solid, 
and  ingenious. 


*  Monsieur  de  Lolme. 


xxiv  PREFACE. 

t{  In  short,  whoever  considers  what  it  is  that  constitutes 
the  moving  principle  of  what  we  call  great  affairs,  and  the 
invincible  sensibility  of  man  to  the  opinion  of  his  fellow- 
creatures,  will  not  hesitate  to  affirm,  that  if  it  were  possible 
for  the  liberty  of  the  press  to  exist  in  a  despotic  govern* 
ment,  and  (what  is  not  less  difficult)  for  it  to  exist  without 
changing  the  constitution,  this  liberty  of  the  press  would 
alone  form  a  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  the  prince.  If, 
for  example,  in  an  empire  of  the  East,  a  sanctuary  could  be 
found,  which,  rendered  respectable  by  the  ancient  religion 
of  the  people,  might  insure  safety  to  those  who  should  bring 
thither  their  observations  of  any  kind ;  and  that,  from 
thence,  printed  papers  should  issue,  which,  under  a  certain 
seal,  might  be  equally  respected,  and  which,  in  their  daily 
appearance,  should  examine  and  freely  discuss  the  conduct 
of  the  cadis,  the  bashaws,  the  vizir,  the  divan,  and  the  sul- 
tan himself;  that  would  introduce  immediately  some  de- 
gree of  liberty." 


LETTERS  OF  JUNIUS. 


LETTER  1. 


Addressed  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  January  21,  1769. 

A  HE  submission  of  a  free  people  to  the  executive 
authority  of  government,  is  no  more  than  a  com 
pliance  with  laws  which  they  themselves  have 
enacted.  While  the  national  honour  is  firmly  main- 
tained  abroad,  and  while  justice  is  impartially  ad- 
ministered at  home,  the  obedience  of  the  subject  will 
be  voluntary,  cheerful,  and,  I  might  almost  say,  un- 
limited. A  generous  nation  is  grateful  even  for  the 
preservation  of  its  rights,  and  willingly  extends  the 
respect  due  to  the  office  of  a  good  prince  into  an 
affection  for  his  person.  Loyalty,  in  the  heart  and 
understanding  of  an  Englishman,  is  a  rational  at- 
tachment to  the  guardian  of  the  laws.  Prejudices 
and  passion  have  sometimes  carried  it  to  a  criminal 
length,  and,  whatever  foreigners  may  imagine,  we 
know  that  Englishmen  have  erred  as  much  in  a  mis- 
VOL.   i.  B 


26  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

takeu  zeal  for  particular  persons  and  families,  as 
they  ever  did  in  defence  of  what  they  thought  most 
dear  and  interesting  to  themselves. 

It  naturally  fills  us  with  resentment,  to  see  such  a 
temper  insulted  and  abused.  In  reading  the  history 
of  a  free  people,  whose  rights  have  been  invaded,  we 
are  interested  in  their  cause.  Our  own  feelings  tell 
us  how  long  they  ought  to  have  submitted,  and  at 
what  moment  it  would  have  been  treachery  to  them- 
selves not  to  have  resisted.  How  much  warmer  will 
be  our  resentment,  if  experience  should  bring  the 
fatal  example  home  to  ourselves  ! 

The  situation  of  this  country  is  alarming  enough 
to  rouse  the  attention  of  every  man  who  pretends  to 
a  concern  for  the  public  welfare.  Appearances  jus- 
tify suspicion ;  and  when  the  safety  of  a  nation  is  at 
stake,  suspicion  is  a  just  ground  of  inquiry.  Let  us 
enter  into  it  with  candour  and  decency.  Respect  is 
due  to  the  station  of  ministers ;  and,  if  a  resolution 
must  at  last  be  taken,  there  is  none  so*  likely  to  be 
supported  with  firmness,  as  that  which  has  been  adopt- 
ed with  moderation. 

The  ruin  or  prosperity  of  a  state  depends  so  much 
upon  the  administration  of  its  government,  that,  to 
]oe  acquainted  with  the  merit  of  a  ministry,  we  need 
only  observe  the  condition  of  the  people.  If  we  see 
them  obedient  to  the  laws,  prosperous  in  their  indus- 
try, united  at  home,  and  respected  abroad,  we  may 
reasonably  presume  that  their  affairs  are  conducted 
by  men  of  experience,  abilities,  and  virtue.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  we  see  an  universal  spirit  of  distrust  and 
dissatisfaction,  a  rapid  decay  of  trade,  dissensions  in 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  27 

all  parts  of  the  empire,  and  a  total  loss  of  respect  in 
the  eyes  of  foreign  powers,  we  may  pronounce,  with- 
out hesitation,  that  the  government  of  that  country  is 
weak,  distracted,  and  corrupt.     The  multitude,  in  all 
countries,  are  patient  to  a  certain  point.     Ill  usage 
may  rouse   their  indignation,  and   hurry  them  into 
excesses ;  but  the  original  fault  is   in   government. 
Perhaps  there  never  was  an  instance  of  a  change  in 
the  circumstances  and  temper  of  a  whole  nation  so 
sudden  and  extraordinary  as  that  which  the  miscon- 
duct of  ministers   has,  within  these  few  years,  pro- 
duced in  Great  Britain.     When   our  gracious  sove- 
reign ascended  the  throne,  we  were  a  flourishing  and 
a  contented  people.     If  the  personal  virtues  of  a  king 
could  have  insured  the  happiness  of  his  subjects,  the 
scene  could  not  have  altered  so  entirely  as  it  has  done. 
The  idea  of  uniting  all  parties,  of  trying  all  charac- 
ters, and  distributing  the  offices  of  state  by  rotation, 
was  gracious  and  benevolent  to  an  extreme,  though 
it  has   not  yet  produced  the  many  salutary   effects 
which  were  intended  by  it.     To  say  nothing  of  the 
wisdom  of  such  apian,  it  undoubtedly  arose  from  an 
unbounded  goodness  of  heart,  in  which  folly  had  no 
share.     It  was  not  a  capricious  partiality   to   new 
faces ;  it  was  not  a  natural  turn  for  low  intrigue ;  nor 
was  it  the  treacherous  amusement  of  double  and  triple 
negotiations.     No,   sir,   it    arose   from    a  continued 
anxiety,  in  the  purest  of  all  possible  hearts,  for  the 
general  welfare.     Unfortunately  for  us,  the  event  has 
not  been   answerable  to   the  design.     After  a  rapid 
succession  of  changes,  we  are  reduced  to  that  state 
which  hardly  any  change  can  mend.     Yet  there  is  no 


26  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

extremity  of  distress,  which,  of  itself,  ought  to  reduce 
a  great  nation  to  despair.  It  is  not  the  disorder,  but 
the  physician  :  it  is  not  a  casual  concurrence  of  ca- 
lamitous circumstances;  it  is  the  pernicious  hand  of 
government  which  alone  can  make  a  whole  pcoplo 
desperate. 

Without  much  political  sagacity,  or  any  extraor 
dinary  depth  of  observation,  we  need  only  mark  hov* 
the  principal  departments  of  the  state  are  bestowed, 
and  look  no  farther  for  the  true  cause  of  every  mis- 
chief that  befalls  us. 

The  *  finances  of  a  nation,  sinking  under  its  debts 
and  expenses,  are  committed  to  a  young  nobleman, 
already  ruined  by  play.  Introduced  to  act  under  the 
auspices  of  lord  Chatham,  and  left  at  the  head  of 
affairs  by  that  nobleman's  retreat,  he  became  minister 
by  accident :  but  deserting  the  principles  and  profes- 
sions which  gave  him  a  moment's  popularity,  we  see 
him  from  every  honourable  engagement  to  the  public, 
an  apostate  by  design.  As  for  business,  the  world 
yet  knows  nothing  of  his  talents  or  resolution  j  unless, 
a  wayward,  wavering  inconsistency  be  a  mark  of 


*  The  duke  of  Grafton  took  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state,  with  an  engagement  to  support  the  marquis  of  Rock- 
ingham's administration.  He  resigned,  however,  in  a  little 
time,  under  pretence  that  he  could  not  act  without  lord 
Chatham,  nor  bear  to  see  Mr.  Wilkes  abandoned  ;  but  that 
under  lord  Chatham  he  would  act  in  any  office.  This  was 
the  signal  of  lord  Rockingham's  dismission.  When  lord 
Chatham  came  in,  the  duke  got  possession  of  the  treasury. 
Reader,  mark  the  consequence  ! 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  29 

genius,  and  caprice  a  demonstration  of  spirit.  It 
may  be  said,  perhaps,  that  it  is  his  grace's  province, 
as  surely  it  is  his  passion,  rather  to  distribute  than  to 
save  the  public  money;  and  that  while  lord  North  is 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  the  first  lord  of  the  trea- 
sury may  be  as  thoughtless  and  extravagant  as  he 
pleases.  I  hope,  however,  he  will  not  rely  too  much 
on  the  fertility  of  lord  North's  genius  for  finance :  his 
lordship  is  yet  to  give  us  the  first  proof  of  his  abili- 
ties. It  may  be  candid  to  suppose  that  he  has  hitherto 
voluntarily  concealed  his  talents ;  intending,  perhaps, 
to  astonish  the  world,  when  we  least  expect  it,  with  a 
knowledge  of  trade,  a  choice  of  expedients,  and  a 
depth  of  resources,  equal  to  the  necessities,  and  far 
beyond  the  hopes  of  his  country.  He  must  now  exert 
the  whole  power  of  his  capacity,  if  he  would  wish  us 
to  forget,  that,  since  he  has  been  in  office,  no  plan  has 
been  formed,  no  system  adhered  to,  nor  any  one  im- 
portant measure  adopted  for  the  relief  of  public  credit. 
If  his  plan  for  the  service  of  the  current  year  be  not 
irrevocably  fixed  on,  let  me  warn  him  to  think  seri- 
ously of  consequences,  before  he  ventures  to  increase 
the  public  debt.  Outraged  and  oppressed  as  we  are, 
this  nation  will  not  bear,  after  a  six  years'  peace,  to 
see  new  millions  borrowed,  without  an  eventual  dimi- 
nution of  debt,  or  reduction  of  interest.  The  attempt 
might  rouse  a  spirit  of  resentment  which  might  reach 
beyond  the  sacrifice  of  a  minister.  As  to  the  debt 
upon  the  civil  list,  the  people  of  England  expect  that 
it  will  not  be  paid  without  a  strict  inquiry  how  it  was 
incurred.  If  it  must  be  paid  by  parliament,  let  me 
advise  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  to  think  of 


30  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

some  better  expedient  than  a  lottery.  To  support  an 
expensive  war,  or  in  circumstances  of  absolute  neces- 
sity, a  lottery  may,  perhaps,  be  allowable;  but,  be- 
sides that  it  is  at  all  times  the  very  worst  way  of 
raising  money  upon  the  people,  I  think  it  ill  becomes 
the  royal  dignity  to  have  the  debts  of  a  king  provided 
for,  like  the  repairs  of  a  country  bridge,  or  a  decayed 
hospital.  The  management  of  the  king's  affairs,  in 
r!ic  house  of  commons,  cannot  be  more  disgraced 
than  it  has  been.  A  leading  minister*  repeatedly 
called  down  for  absolute  ignorance,  ridiculous  mo- 
tions ridiculously  withdrawn,  deliberate  plans  discon- 
certed, and  a  week's  preparation  of  graceful  oratory 
lost  in  a  moment,  give  us  some,  though  not  adequate 
ideas,  of  lord  North's  parliamentary  abilities  and  in- 
fluence. Yet,  before  he  had  the  misfortune  of  being 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  he  was  neither  an  object 
of  derision  to  his  enemies,  nor  of  melancholy  pity  to 
his  friends. 

A  series  of  inconsistent  measures  has  alienated  the 
colonies  from  their  duty  as  subjects,  and  from  their 
natural  affection  to  their  common  country.  When 
Mr.  Grenville  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  treasury, 
he  felt  the  impossibility  of  Great  Britain's  supporting 
such  an  establishment,  as  her  former  successes  had 
made  indispensable,  and  at  the  same  time  of  giving 
any  sensible  relief  to  foreign  trade,  and  to  the  weight 
of  the  public  debt.  He  thought  it  equitable,  that 
those  parts  of  the  empire  which  had  benefited  most  by 

*  This  happened  frequently  to  poor  lord  North. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  31 

Ihe  expenses  of  the  war,  should  contribute  something 
to  the  expenses  of  the  peace,  and  he  had  no  doubt  of 
the  constitutional  right  vested  in  parliament  to  raise 
the  contribution.  But,  unfortunately  for  his  country, 
Mr.  Grenville  was  at  any  rate  to  be  distressed,  because 
he  was  minister ;  and  Mr.  Pitt*  and  lord  Camderi 
were  to  be  the  patrons  of  America,  because  they  were 
in  opposition.  Their  declaration  gave  spirit  and  ar- 
gument to  the  colonies;  and  while,  perhaps,  they 
meant  no  more  than  the  ruin  of  a  minister,  they, 
in  effect,  divided  one  half  of  the  empire  from  the 
other. 

Under  one  administration  the  stamp-act  is  made  ) 
under  the  second  it  is  repealed ;  under  the  third,  in 
spite  of  all  experience,  a  new  mode  of  taxing  the  colo- 
nies is  invented,  and  a  question  revived  which  ought 
to  have  been  buried  in  oblivion.  In  these  circum- 
stances a  new  office  is  established  for  the  business  of 
the  plantations,  and  the  earl  of  Hillsborough  called 
forth,  at  a  most  critical  season,  to  govern  America. 
The  choice,  at  least,  announced  to  us  a  man  of  su- 
perior capacity  and  knowledge.  Whether  he  be  so 
or  not,  let  his  despatches,  as  far  as  they  have  appear- 
ed, let  his  measures,  as  far  as  they  have  operated, 
determine  for  him.  In  the  former  we  have  seen  strong 
assertions  without  proof,  declamation  without  argu- 
ment, and  violent  censures  without  dignity  or  mode- 
ration ;  but  neidier  correctness  in  the  composition, 
uor  judgment  in  the  design.     As  for  his  measures,  let 

*  Yet  Junius  has  been  called  the  partisan  of  lord  Chatham  \ 


32  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it  be  remembered,  that  he  was  called  upon  to  conciliate 
and  unite ;  and  that,  when  he  entered  into  office,  the 
most  refractory  of  the  colonies  were  still  disposed  to 
proceed  by  the  constitutional  methods  of  petition  and 
remonstrance.  Since  that  period  they  have  been 
driven  into  excesses  little  short  of  rebellion.  Peti- 
tions have  been  hindered  from  reaching  the  throne; 
and  the  continuance  of  one  of  the  principal  assem- 
blies rested  upon  an  arbitrary  condition,*  which,  con- 
sidering the  temper  they  were  in,  it  was  impossible 
ihey  should  comply  with;  and  which  would  have 
availed  nothing  as  to  the  general  question,  if  it  had 
been  complied  with.  So  violent,  and,  I  believe,  I 
may  call  it,  so  unconstitutional,  an  exertion  of  the 
prerogative,  to  say  nothing  of  the  weak,  injudicious 
terms  in  which  it  was  conveyed,  gives  us  as  bumble 
an  opinion  of  his  lordship's  capacity,  as  it  does  of  his 
temper  and  moderation.  While  we  are  at  peace  with 
other  nations,  our  military  force  may,  perhaps,  be 
spared  to  support  the  earl  of  Hillsborough's  measures 
in  America.  Whenever  that  force  shall  be  necessa 
rily  withdrawn  or  diminished,  the  dismission  of  such 
a  minister  will  neither  console  us  for  his  imprudence, 
nor  remove  the  settled  resentment  of  a  people,  who, 
complaining  of  an  act  of  the  legislature,  are  outraged 
by  an  unwarrantable  stretch  of  prerogative  ;  and. 
supporting  their  claims  by  argument,  are  insulted 
with  declamation. 


*  That  they  should  retract  one  of  their  resolutions,  and 
erase  the  entry  of  it. 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  33 

Drawing  lots  would  be  a  prudent  and  reasonable 
method  of  appointing  the  officers  of  state,  compared 
to  a  late  disposition  of  the  secretary's  office.     Lord 
Rochford  was  acquainted  with  the  affairs  and  temper 
of  the  southern  courts;  lord  Weymouth  was  equally 
qualified  for  either  department  :*  by  what  unaccount- 
able caprice  has  it  happened,  that  the  latter,  who  pre- 
tends to  no  experience  whatsoever,  is  removed  to  the 
most  important  of  the  two  departments  ;  and  the  for- 
mer, by  preference,  placed  in  an  office  where  his  ex- 
perience can  be  of  no  use  to  him  ?     Lord  Weymouth 
had   distinguished  himself,   in  his  first  employment, 
by   a   spirited,    if  not  judicious  conduct.     He  had 
animated  the  civil  magistrate  beyond  the  tone  of  civil 
authority,  and  had  directed  the  operations  of  the  army 
to  more  than  military  execution.     Recovered  from 
the  errors  of  his  youth,  from  the  distraction  of  play, 
and  the  bewitching  smiles  of  Burgundy,  behold  him 
exerting  the  whole  strength  of  his  clear,  unclouded 
faculties  in  the  service  of  the  crown.     It  was  not  the 
heat  of  midnight  excesses,  nor  ignorance  of  the  laws, 
nor  the  furious  spirit  of  the  house  of  Bedford  ;  no, 
sir,    tvhen    this   respectable    minister   interposed   his 
authority  between  the  magistrate  and  the  people,  and 
signed  the  mandate,  on  which,  for  aught  he  knew,  the 
fives  of  thousands  depended,  he  did  it  from  the  de- 
liberate motion  of  his  heart,  supported  by  the  best  of 
his  judgment. 

*  It  was  pretended  that  the  earl  of  Rochford,  while  am- 
bassador in  France,  had  quarrelled  with  the  duke  of  Choi- 
seul ;  and  that,  therefore,  he  was  appointed  to  the  northern 

department,  out  of  compliment  to  the  French  minister. 

1)2  3 


34  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

It  has  lately  been  a  fashion  to  pay  a  compliment 
to  the  bravery  and  generosity  of  the  commander-in- 
chief,*  at  the  expense  of  his  understanding.  They 
who  love  him  least  make  no  question  of  his  courage, 
while  his  friends  dwell  chiefly  on  the  facility  of  his 
disposition.  Admitting  him  to  be  as  brave  as  a  total 
absence  of  all  feeling  and  reflection  can  make  him,  let 
us  see  what  sort  of  merit  he  derives  from  the  remain- 
der of  his  character.  If  it  be  generosity  to  accumu- 
late, in  his  own  person  and  family,  a  number  of  lucra- 
tive employments;  to  provide,  at  the  public  expense, 
for  every  creature  that  bears  the  name  of  Manners  ; 
and,  neglecting  the  merit  and  services  of  the  rest  of 
the  army,  to  heap  promotions  upon  his  favourites  and 
dependents ;  the  present  commander-in-chief  is  the 
most  generou-  man  alive.  Nature  has  been  sparing  of 
her  gifts  to  this  noble  lord  ;  but  where  birth  and  for- 
tune are  united,  we  expect  the  noble  pride  and  inde- 
pendence of  a  man  of  spirit,  not  the  servile  humili- 
ating complaisance  of  a  courtier.  As  to  the  good- 
ness of  his  heart,  if  a  proof  of  it  be  taken  from  the 
facility  of  never  refusing,  what  conclusion  shall  we 
draw  from  the  indecency  of  never  performing  f  And 
if  the  discipline  of  the  army  be  in  any  degree  pre- 
served, what  thanks  are  due  to  a  man,  whose  cares, 
notoriously  confined  to  filling  up  vacancies,  have 
degraded  the  office  of  commander-in-chief,  into  a 
broker  of  commissions  ? 

With  respect  to  the  navy,  I  shall  only  say,  that 
this  country  is   so  highly   indebted  to  sir  Edward 


*  The  late  lord  Granby, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  35 

Hawke,  that  no  expense  should  be  spared  to  secure 
to  him  an  honourable  and  affluent  retreat. 

The  pure  and  impartial  administration  of  justice 
is,  perhaps,    the  firmest   bond  to  secure  a  cheerful 
submission  of  the  people,  and  to  engage  their  affec- 
tions to  government.     It  is  not  sufficient  that  ques- 
tions of  private  right  or  wrong  are  justly  decided, 
nor  that  judges  are  superior  to  the  vileness  of  pecu- 
niary corruption.     Jefleries  himself,  when  the  court 
had  no  interest,   was  an  upright  judge.     A  court  of 
justice  may  be  subject  to  another  sort  of  bias,  more 
important  and  pernicious,   as  it  reaches  beyond  the 
interest  of  individuals,  and  affects  the  whole  com- 
munity.    A  judge,  under  the   influence  of  govern- 
ment,   may  be  honest  enough  in  the  decision  of  pri- 
vate causes,    yet  a  traitor  to  the  public.     When  a 
victim  is  mai-ked  out  by  the  ministry,    this  judge 
will  offer  himself  to  perform  the  sacrifice  :  he  will 
not  scruple  to  prostitute  his  dignity,   and  betray  the 
sanctity  of  his  office,  whenever  an  arbitrary  point 
is  to  be  carried  for  government,  or  the  resentment 
of  a  court  to  be  gratified. 

These  principles  and  proceedings,  odious  and 
contemptible  as  they  are,  in  effect  are  no  less  inju- 
dicious. A  wise  and  generous  people  are  roused  by 
every  appearance  of  oppressive,  unconstitutional 
measures,  whether  those  measures  are  supported 
only  by  the  power  of  government,  or  masked  under 
the  forms  of  a  court  of  justice.  Prudence  and  self- 
preservation  will  oblige  the  most  moderate  disposi- 
tions to  make  common  cause  even  with  a  man 
whose  conduct  they  censure,  if  they  see  him  per- 
secuted in  a  way  which  the  real  spirit  of  the  laws 


36  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

will  not  justify.  The  facts  on  which  these  remarks 
are  founded  are  too  notorious  to  require  an  ap- 
plication. 

This,  sir,  is  the  detail.  In  one  view,  behold  a  na- 
tion overwhelmed  with  debt ;  her  revenues  wasted, 
her  trade  declining  ;  the  affections  of  her  colo- 
nies alienated  ;  the  duty  of  the  magistrate  trans- 
ferred to  the  soldiery  ;  a  gallant  army,  which  never 
fought  unwillingly  but  against  their  fellow-subjects, 
mouldering  away  for  want  of  the  direction  of  a 
man  of  common  abilities  and  spirit  ;  and  in  the 
last  instance,  the  administration  of  justice  become 
odious  and  suspected  to  the  whole  body  of  the  peo- 
ple. This  deplorable  scene  admits  of  but  one  ad- 
dition ;  that  we  are  governed  by  counsels  from 
which  a  reasonable  man  can  expect  no  remedy  but 
poison  ;  no  relief  but  death. 

If,  by  the  immediate  interposition  of  Providence, 
it  were  possible  for  us  to  escape  a  crisis  so  full  of 
terror  and  despair,  posterity  will  not  believe  the 
history  of  the  present  times.  They  will  either  con- 
clude that  our  distresses  were  imaginary,  or  that 
we  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  governed  by  men  of 
acknowledged  integrity  and  wisdom  :  they  will  not 
believe  it  possible,  that  their  ancestors  could  have 
survived  or  recovered  from  so  desperate  a  condi- 
tion, while  a  duke  of  Grafton  was  prime  minister, 
a  lord  North  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  ;  a  Wey- 
mouth and  a  Hillsborough  secretaries  of  state  ;  a 
Granby  commander-in-chief;  and  a  Mansfield  chief 
criminal  judge  of  the  kingdom. 

JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  37 

II. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  January  26,  1769- 

The  kingdom  swarms  with  snch  numbers  of  felo- 
nious robbers  of  private  character  and  virtue,  that 
no  honest  or  good  man  is  safe ;  especially  as  these 
cowardly,  base  assassins,  stab  in  the  dark,  with- 
out having  the  courage  to  sign  their  real  names 
to  their  malevolent  and  wicked  productions.  A 
writer,  who  signs  himself  Junius,  in  the  Public 
Advertiser  of  the  21st  instant,  opens  the  deplorable 
situation  of  his  country  in  a  very  affecting  manner. 
With  a  pompous  parade  of  his  candour  and  de- 
cency, he  tells  us  that  we  see  dissensions  in  all  parts 
of  the  empire,  an  universal  spirit  of  distrust  and 
dissatisfaction,  and  a  total  loss  of  respect  towards 
us  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  powers.  But  this  writer, 
with  all  his  boasted  candour,  has  not  told  us  the 
real  cause  of  the  evils  he  so  pathetically  enume- 
rates. I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  explain  the  cause 
for  him.  Junius,  and  such  writers  as  himself, 
occasion  all  the  mischief  complained  of,  by  falsely 
and  maliciously  traducing  the  best  characters  in  the 
kingdom  :  for  when  our  deluded  people  at  home, 
and  foreigners  abroad,  read  the  poisonous  and 
inflammatory  libels  that  are  daily  published  with 
impunity,  to  vilify  those  who  are  any  way  distin- 
guished by  their  good  qualities  and  eminent  vir- 
tues; when  they  find  no  notice  taken  of,  or  replv 


38  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

given    to    these  slanderous  tongues  and  pens,  their 
conclusion    is,    that    both    the    ministers    and   the 
nation  have  been  fairly  described,  and  they  act  ac- 
cordingly.    I  think  it,  therefore,  the  duty  of  every 
good  citizen  to  stand  forth,  and  endeavour  to  un- 
deceive the  public,   when  the  vilest  arts   are   made 
use   of  to  defame   and  blacken  the  brightest   char- 
acters among  us.     An  eminent  author  affirms  it  to 
be  almost   as  criminal   to   hear   a   worthy  man  tra- 
duced,   without    attempting    his  justification,  as  to 
be  the  author  of  the  calumny  against  him.     For  my 
own  part,  I  think  it  a  sort  of  misprision  of  treason 
against   society.     No    man,    therefore,    who    knows 
lord  Granby,  can  possibly  hear  so  good  and  great  a 
character  most  vilely  abused,  without  a  warm  and 
just    indignation    against    this    Junius,    this    high- 
priest   of   envy,    malice,    and    all    uncharitableness, 
who  has  endeavoured  to  sacrifice  our  beloved  com- 
mander-in-chief at   the   altars  of  his  horrid  deities. 
Nor  is   the  injury  done  to  his  lordship  alone,  but 
to  the   whole  nation,   which   may  too  soon  feel  the 
contempt,  and  consequently  the  attacks,  of  our  late 
enemies,  if  they  can  be  induced  to  believe  that  the 
person  on  whom  the   safety   of  these  kingdoms  so 
much  depends,  is  unequal  to  his  high  station,  and 
destitute  of  those  qualities  which  form  a  good  ge- 
neral.    One  would  have  thought  that  his  lordship's 
services  in  the  cause  of  his  country,  from  the  battle 
©f  Culloden  to  his  most  glorious  conclusion  of  the 
late  war,  might  have  entitled  him  to  common  re- 
spect and  decency  at  least ;  but  this  uncandid,  inde- 
cent writer,   has  gone  so  far  as  to  turn  one  of  the 
most  amiable  men  of  the  age  into  a  stupid,  unfeel- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  30 

ing,  and  senseless  being ;  possessed,  indeed,  of  a 
personal  courage,  but  void  of  those  essential  qua- 
lities which  distinguish  the  commander  from  the 
common  soldier. 

A  very  long,  uninterrupted,  impartial,  (I  will  add, 
a  most  disinterested)  friendship,   with  lord  Granby, 
gives  me  the  right  to  affirm,  that  all  Junius's  asser- 
tions   are   false    and    scandalous.      Lord    Granby's- 
courage,   though  of  the  brightest  and  most  ardent 
kind,   is   amongst  the  lowest  of  his  numerous  good 
qualities  :  he  was  formed  to  excel  in  war,  by  nature's 
liberality  to  his  mind  as  well  as  person.     Educated 
and  instructed  by  his  most  noble  father,   and  a  most 
spirited   as    well   as   excellent   scholar,   the   present 
bishop  of  Bangor,  he  was  trained  to  the  nicest  sense 
of  honour,  and  to  the  truest  and  noblest  sort  of  pride, 
that  of  never  doing  or  suffering  a  mean  action.     A 
sincere  love  and  attachment  to  his  king  and  country, 
and  to  their  glory,   first  impelled   him   to  the  field, 
where   he  never  gained  ought  but  honour.     He  im- 
paired,   through   his    bounty,   his  own   fortune  ;  for 
his  bounty,  which  this  writer  would  in  vain  depreciate, 
is  founded  upon  the  noblest  of  the  human  affections  -y 
it  flows  from  a  heart  melting   to   goodness  ;  from 
the  most  refined   humanity.     Can  a   man,   who  is 
described  as   unfeeling   and   void   of   reflection,  be 
constantly  employed  in  seeking  proper  objects,  on 
whom   to   exercise   those  glorious  virtues   of   com- 
passion and  generosity  ?     The  distressed  officer,  the 
soldier,   the   widow,    the   orphan,    and   a   long   list 
besides,  know  that  vanity  has  no  share  in  his  frequent 
donations  ;  he  gives,  because  he  feels  their  distresses. 
N.or  has  he  ever  been  rapacious  with  one  hand,  to  be 


40  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

bountiful  with  the  other.  Yet  this  uncandid  Junius 
would  insinuate,  that  the  dignity  of  the  commander- 
in-chief  is  depraved  into  the  base  office  of  a  com- 
mission-broker ;  that  is,  lord  Granby  bargains  for 
the  sale  of  commissions  ;  for  it  must  have  this  mean- 
ing, if  it  has  any  at  all.  But  where  is  the  man 
living  who  can  justly  charge  his  lordship  with  such 
mean  practices  ?  Why  does  not  Junius  produce  him  ; 
Junius  knows  that  he  has  no  other  means  of  wound- 
ing this  hero,  than  from  some  missile  weapon,  shot 
from  an  obscure  corner.  He  seeks,  as  all  such 
defamatory  writers  do, 


spargere  voces 

In  vulgum  ambiguas, 

to  raise  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  But 
I  hope  that  my  countrymen  will  be  no  longer  im- 
posed upon  by  artful  and  designing  men,  or  by 
wretches,  who,  bankrupts  in  business,  in  fame,  and 
in  fortune,  mean  nothing  more  than  to  involve  this 
country  in  the  same  common  ruin  with  themselves. 
Hence  it  is,  that  they  are  constantly  aiming  their 
dark,  and  too  often  fatal,  weapons  against  those  who 
stand  forth  as  the  bulwark  of  our  national  safety. 
Lord  Granby  was  too  conspicuous  a  mark  not  to  be 
their  object.  He  is  next  attacked  for  being  unfaithful 
to  his  promises  and  engagements  ?  Where  are 
Junius's  proofs  ?  Although  I  could  give  some  in- 
stances where  a  breach  of  promise  would  be  a  virtue, 
especially  in  the  case  of  those  who  would  pervert  the 
open  unsuspecting  moments  of  convivial  mirth  into 
sly  insidious  applications  for  preferment  or  party- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  41 

systems  ;  and  would  endeavour  to  surprise  a  good 
man,  who  cannot  bear  to  see  any  one  leave  him 
dissatisfied,  into  unguarded  promises.  Lord  Granby's 
attention  to  his  own  family  and  relations  is  called 
selfish.  Had  he  not  attended  to  them,  when  fab  and 
just  opportunities  presented  themselves,  I  should  have 
thought  him  unfeeling,  and  void  of  reflection  indeed. 
How  are  any  man's  friends  or  relations  to  be  pro- 
vided for,  but  from  the  influence  and  protection  of 
the  patron  ?  It  is  unfair  to  suppose  that  lord 
Granby's  friends  have  not  as  much  merit  as  the 
friends  of  any  other  great  man.  If  lie  is  generous 
at  the  public,  expense,  as  Junius  invidiously  calls  it, 
the  public  is  at  no  more  expense  for  his  lordship's 
friends,  than  it  would  be  if  any  other  set  of  men 
possessed  those  offices.     The  charge  is  ridiculous. 

The  last  charge  against  lord  Granby  is  of  a  most 
serious  and  alarming  nature  indeed.  Junius  asserts,, 
that  the  army  is  mouldering  away,  for  want  of  the 
direction  of  a  man  of  common  abilities  and  spirit. 
The  present  condition  of  the  army  gives  the  directest 
lie  to  his  assertions.  It  was  never  upon  a  more  res- 
pectable footing  with  regard  to  discipline  and  all  the 
essentials  that  can  form  good  soldiers.  Lord  Ligo- 
nier  delivered  a  firm  and  noble  palladium  of  our 
safeties  into  lord  Granby's  hands,  wiio  has  kept  it  in 
the  same  good  order  in  which  he  received  it.  The 
strictest  care  has  been  taken  to  fill  up  the  vacant 
commissions  with  such  gentlemen  as  have  the  glory 
of  their  ancestors  to  support,  as  well  as  their  own  ; 
and  are  doubly  bound  to  the  cause  of  their  king  and 
country,  from  motives  of  private  property,  as  well 
as  public  spirit.     The  adjutant-general,  who  has  the 


42  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

immediate  care  of  the  troops  after  lord  Granby,  k 
an  officer  that  would  do  great  honour  to  any  service 
in  Europe,  for  his  correct  arrangements,  good  sens.e 
and  discernment  upon  all  occasions,  and  for  a 
punctuality  and  precision  which  give  the  most  entire 
satisfaction  to  all  who  are  obliged  to  consult  him. 
The  reviewing  generals,  who  inspect  the  army  twice 
a-year,  have  been  selected  with  the  greatest  cafe, 
and  have  answered  the  important  trust  reposed  in 
them  in  the  most  laudable  manner.  Their  reports 
of  the  condition  of  the  army  are  much  more  to  be 
credited  thau  those  of  Junius,  whom  I  do  advise  to 
atone  for  his  shameful  aspersions,  hy  asking  pardon 
of  lord  Granby  and  the  whole  kingdom,  whom  he 
has  offended  by  his  abominable  scandals.  In  short, 
to  turn  Junius's  own  battery  against  him,  I  must 
assert  in  his  own  words,  "  that  he  has  given  strong 
assertions  without  proof,  declamation  without  argu- 
ment, and  violent  censures  without  dignity  or  mo- 


leration." 


WILLIAM  DRAPER. 


III. 


To  Sir  William  Draper,  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

SIR,  February  7,  1769- 

Your  defence  of  lord  Granby  does  honour  to  the 

goodness  of   your  heart.     You   feel,  as  you  ought 

fo    do,  for  the  reputation   of  your  friend,  and  you 

express  yourself  in  the  warmest  language  of  your 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  45 

passions.  In  any  other  cause,  I  doubt  not  you 
would  have  cautiously  weighed  the  consequences  of 
committing  your  name  to  the  licentious  discourses 
and  malignant  opinions  of  the  world  :  but  here,  I 
presume,  you  thought  it  would  be  a  breach  of 
friendship,  to  lose  one  moment  in  consulting  your 
understanding  ;  as  if  an  appeal  to  the  public  were 
no  more  than  a  military  coup  de  main,  where  a 
brave  man  has  no  rules  to  follow  but  the  dictates 
of  his  courage.  Touched  with  your  generosity,  I 
freely  forgive  the  excesses  into  which  it  has  led 
you  ;  and,  far  from  resenting  those  terms  of  re- 
proach, which,  considering  that  you  are  an  advo- 
cate for  decorum,  you  have  heaped  upon  me  rather 
too  liberally,  I  place  them  to  the  account  of  an 
honest  unreflecting  indignation,  in  which  your 
cooler  judgment  and  natural  politeness  had  no  con- 
cern. I  approve  of  the  spirit  with  which  you  have 
given  your  name  to  the  public  ;  and,  if  it  were  a 
proof  of  any  thing  but  spirit,  I  should  have  thought 
myself  bound  to  follow  your  example.  I  should 
have  hoped  that  even  my  name  might  carry  some 
authority  with  it,  if  I  had  not  seen  how  very  little 
weight  or  consideration  a  printed  paper  receives, 
even  from  the  respectable  signature  of  sir  William 

Draper. 

You  begin  with  a  general  assertion,  that  writers, 
such  as  I  am,  are  the  real  cause  of  all  the  public 
evils  we  complain  of.  And  do  you  really  think, 
sir  William,  that  the  licentious  pen  of  a  political 
writer  is  able  to  produce  such  important  effects  ? 
A.  little  calm  reflection  might  have  shown  you,  that 
national  calamities  do  not  arise  from  the  description, 


44   ,  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

hut  from  the  real  character  and  conduct  of  ministers 
To  have  supported  your  assertion,  you  should  have 
proved,  that  the  present  ministry  are  unquestionably 
the  best  and  brightest  characters  of  the  kingdom  ; 
and  that,  if  the  affections  of  the  colonies  have  been 
alienated,  if  Corsica  has  been  shamefully  abandoned, 
if  commerce  languishes,  if  public  credit  is  threatened 
with  a  new  debt,  and  your  own  Manilla  ransom  most 
dishonourably  given  up,  it  has  all  been  owing  to 
the  malice  of  political  writers,  who  will  not  suffer 
the  best  and  brightest  characters  (meaning  still 
the  present  ministry)  to  take  a  single  right  step  for 
the  honour  or  interest  of  the  nation.  But  it  seems; 
you  were  a  little  tender  of  coming  to  particulars. 
Your  conscience  insinuated  to  you  that  it  would 
be  prudent  to  leave  the  characters  of  Grafton,  North, 
Hillsborough,  Weymouth,  and  Mansfield,  to  shift  for 
themselves  ;  and  truly,  sir  William,  the  part  you 
have  undertaken  is  at  least  as  much  as  you  are 
equal  to. 

Without  disputing  lord  Granby's  courage,  we  are 
yet  to  learn  in  what  articles  of  military  knowledge 
nature  has  been  so  very  liberal  to  his  mind.  If 
you  have  served  with  him,  you  ought  to  have 
pointed  out  some  instances  of  able  disposition  and 
well-concerted  enterprise,  which  might  fairly  be 
attributed  to  his  capacity  as  a  general.  It  is  you 
sir  William,  who  make  your  friend  appear  awkward 
and  ridiculous,  by  giving  him  a  laced  suit  of  tawdry 
qualifications,  which  nature  never  intended  him  to 
wear. 

You  say,  he  has  acquired  nothing  but  honour  in 
the  field  ?     Is  the  ordnance  nothing  ?     Are  the  Blues 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  45 

nothing  ?  Is  the  command  of  the  army,  with  all 
the  patronage  annexed  to  it,  nothing  f  Where  he 
got  all  these  nothings  I  know  not  ;  but  you,  at  least, 
ought  to  have  told  us  when  he  deserved  them. 

As  to  his  bount}',  compassion,  &c.  it  would  have 
been  but  little  to  the  purpose,  though  you  had 
proved  all  that  you  have  asserted.  I  meddle  with 
nothing  but  his  character  as  commander-in-chief; 
and,  though  I  acquit  him  of  the  baseness  of  selling- 
commissions,  I  still  assert,  that  his  military  cares 
have  never  extended  beyond  the  disposal  of  vacan- 
cies ;  and  I  am  justified  by  the  complaints  of  the 
whole  army,  when  I  say,  that,  in  this  distribution, 
he  consults  nothing  but  parliamentary  interest,  or 
the  gratification  of  his  immediate  dependents.  As 
to  his  servile  submission  to  the  reigning  ministry, 
let  me  ask,  whether  he  did  not  desert  the  cause 
of  the  whole  army,  when  he  suffered  sir  Jeffery 
Amherst  to  be  sacrificed,  and  what  share  he  had  in 
recalling  that  officer  to  the  service  f  Did  he  not 
betray  the  just  interest  of  the  army  in  permitting 
lord  Percy  to  have  a  regiment  ?  And  does  he  not, 
at  this  moment,  give  up  all  character  and  dignity 
as  a  gentleman,  in  receding  from  his  own  repeated 
declarations  in  favour  of  Mr.  Wilkes  ? 

In  the  two  next  articles,  I  think,  we  are  agreed. 
You  candidly  admit,  that  he  often  makes  such  pro- 
mises as  it  is  a  virtue  in  him  to  violate,  and  that  no 
man  is  more  assiduous  to  provide  for  his  relations  at 
the  public  expense.  I  did  not  urge  the  last  as  an 
absolute  vice  in  his  disposition,  but  to  prove  that  a 
careless,  disinterested  spirit  is  no  part  of  his  character: 
and  as  to  the  other,  I  desire  it  may  be  remembered, 


46  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

that  I  never  descended  to  the  indecency  of  inquiring 
into  his  convivial  hours.  It  is  you,  sir  William  Dra- 
per, who  have  taken  pains  to  represent  your  friend 
in  the  character  of  a  drunken  landlord,  who  deals 
out  his  promises  as  liberally  as  his  liquor,  and  will 
suffer  no  man  to  leave  his  table  either  sorrowful  or 
sober.  None  but  an  intimate  friend,  who  must  fre- 
quently have  seen  him  in  these  unhappy,  disgraceful 
moments,  could  have  described  him  so  well. 

The  last  charge,  of  the  neglect  of  the  army,  is 
indeed  the  most  material  of  all.  I  am  sorry  to  tell 
you,  sir  William,  that  in  this  article  your  first  fact 
is  false  :  and  as  there  is  nothing  more  painful  to  me 
than  to  give  a  direct  contradiction  to  a  gentleman  of 
your  appearance,  I  could  wish,  that,  in  your  future 
publications,  you  would  pay  a  greater  attention  to 
the  truth  of  your  premises,  before  you  suffer  your 
genius  to  hurry  you  to  a  conclusion.  Lord  Ligoniev 
did  not  deliver  the  army  (which  you,  in  classical 
language,  are  pleased  to  call  a  palladium)  into  lord 
Granby's  hands.  It  was  taken  from  him,  much 
against  his  inclination,  some  two  or  three  years  before 
lord  Granby  was  commander-in-chief.  As  to  the 
state  of  the  army,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  where 
you  have  received  your  intelligence.  Was  it  in  the 
rooms  at  Bath,  or  at  your  retreat  at  Clifton  ?  The 
reports  of  reviewing  generals  comprehend  only  a  few 
regiments  in  England,  which,  as  they  are  immediately 
under  the  royal  inspection,  are  perhaps  in  some  tole- 
rable order.  But  do  you  know  any  thing  of  the 
troops  in  the  West  Indies,  the  Mediterranean,  and 
North  America;  to  say  nothing  of  a  whole  army 
absolutely  ruined  in  Ireland  ?     Inquire  a  little  into 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  47 

facts,  sir  William,  before  you  publish  your  next 
panegyric  upon  lord  Granby  ;  and,  believe  me,  you 
will  find  there  is  a  fault  at  head-quarters,  which  even 
the  acknowledged  care  and  abilities  of  the  adjutant^ 
general  cannot  correct. 

Permit  me  now,  sir  William,  to  address  myself 
personally  to  you,  by  way  of  thanks  for  the  honour 
of  your  correspondence-  You  are  by  no  means  un- 
deserving of  notice ;  and  it  may  be  of  consequence^ 
even  to  lord  Granby,  to  have  it  determined,  whether 
or  no  the  man,  who  has  praised  him  so  lavishly,  be 
himself  deserving  of  praise.  When  you  returned  to 
Europe,  you  zealously  undertook  the  cause  of  that 
gallant  army,  by  whose  bravery  at  Manilla  your  own 
fortune  had  been  established.  You  complained,  you 
threatened,  you  even  appealed  to  the  public  in  print. 
By  what  accident  did  it  happen,  that,  in  the  midst  of 
all  this  bustle,  and  all  these  clamours  for  justice  to 
your  injured  troops,  the  name  of  the  Manilla  ransom 
was  suddenly  buried  in  a  profound,  and,  since  that 
time,  an  uninterrupted  silence?  Did  the  ministry 
suggest  any  motives  to  you  strong  enough  to  tempt  a 
man  of  honour  to  desert  and  betray  the  cause  of  his 
fellow  soldiers  ?  Was  it  that  blushing  ribbon  which 
is  now  the  perpetual  ornament  of  your  person  ?  Or  was 
it  that  regiment  which  you  afterwards  (a  thing  unpre- 
cedented among  soldiers)  sold  to  colonel  Gisborne-  f 
Or  was  it  that  government,  the  full  pay  of  which  you 
are  contented  to  hold,  with  the  half-pay  of  an  Irish 
colonel  ?  And  do  you  now,  after  a  retreat  not 
very  like  that  of  Scipio,  presume  to  intrude  yourself, 
unthought  of,  uncalled  for,  upon  the  patience  of  the 
public  ?     Are  your  flatteries  of  the  commander-in- 


4B  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

chief,  directed  to  another  regiment,  which  you  may 
again  dispose  of  on  the  same  honourable  terms  ? 
We  know  your  prudence,  sir  William  ;  and  I  should 
be  sorry  to  stop  your  preferment. 

JUNIUS. 


IV. 


To  Junius. 

SIR,  February  17,  1769.' 

I  received  Junius's  favour  last  night  :  he  is  deter- 
mined to  keep  his  advantage  by  the  help  of  his 
mask  :  it  is  an  excellent  protection  :  it  has  saved 
many  a  man  from  an  untimely  end.  But  whenever 
he  will  be  honest  enough  to  lay  it  aside,  avow  him- 
self, and  produce  the  face  which  has  so  long  lurked 
behind  it,  the  world  will  be  able  to  judge  of  his 
motives  for  writing  such  infamous  invectives.  His 
real  name  will  discover  his  freedom  and  indepen- 
dency, or  his  servility  to  a  faction.  Disappointed 
ambition,  resentment  for  defeated  hopes,  and  desire 
of  revenge,  assume  but  too  often  the  appearance  of 
public  spirit :  but,  be  his  designs  wicked  or  chari- 
table, Junius  should  learn,  that  it  is  possible  to 
condemn  measures  without  a  barbarous  and  crim- 
inal outrage  against  men.  Junius  delights  to 
mangle  carcases  with  a  hatchet ;  his  language 
and  instrument  have  a  great  connexion  with  Clare- 
market,  and,  to  do  him  justice,  he  handles  his  weapon 
most  admirably.  One  would  imagine  he  had  been 
taught  to  throw  it  by  the  savages  of  America.     It  is, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  49 

therefore,  high  time  for  me  to  step  in  once  more  to 
shield  my  friend  from  this  merciless  weapon,  although 
E  may  be  wounded  in  the  attempt.  But  I  must  first 
ask  Junius  by  what  forced  analogy  and  construction, 
the  moments  of  convivial  mirth  are  made  to  signify 
indecency,  a  violation  of  engagements,  a  drunken 
landlord,  and  a  desire  that  every  one  in  company 
should  be  drunk  likewise  ?  He  must  have  culled 
all  the  flowers  of  St.  Giles's  and  Billingsgate  to 
have  produced  such  a  piece  of  oratory.  Here  the 
hatchet  descends  with  tenfold  vengeance  :  but,  alas  ! 
it  hurts  no  one  but  its  master  !  For  Junius  must 
not  think  to  put  words  into  my  mouth,  that  seem 
too  foul  even  for  his  own. 

My  friend's  political  engagements  I  know  not  ;  so 
cannot  pretend  to  explain  them,  or  assert  their  con- 
sistency. I  know  not  whether  Junius  be  considerable 
enough  to  belong  to  any  party.  If  he  should  be  so, 
can  he  affirm  that  he  has  always  adhered  to  one  set 
of  men  and  measures  ?  Is  he  sure  that  he  has  never 
sided  with  those  whom  he  was  first  hired  to  abuse  ? 
Has  he  never  abused  those  he  was  hired  to  praise  ? 
To  say  the  truth,  most  men's  politics  sit  much  too 
loosely  about  them.  But  as  my  friend's  military 
character  was  the  chief  object  that  engaged  me  in 
this  controversy,  to  that  I  shall  return. 

Junius  asks,  what  instances  my  friend  has  given 
of  his  military  skill  and  capacity  as  a  general  ? 
When  and  where  he  gained  his  honour  ?  When 
he  deserved  his  emoluments  ?  The  united  voice 
of  the  army  which  served  under  him,  the  glorious 
testimony  of  prince  Ferdinand,  and  of  vanquished 
enemies,    all    Germany    will   tell  him.     Junius  re- 

VOL.    T.  C  2 


50  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

peats  the  complaints   of   the   army  against  parlia- 
mentary influence.     I   love   the  army  too  well  not 
to  wish  that  such  influence  were  less.     Let  Junius 
point  out  the  time  when  it  has    not   prevailed.     It 
was  of   the  least  force  in   the  time   of  that   great 
man,    the   late   duke    of    Cumberland,    who,    as   a 
prince    of  the  blood,  was  able,  as  well  as  willing, 
to  stem  a  torrent  which  would  have  overborne  any 
private  subject.     In  time   of  war,    this  influence  is 
small.     In  peace,  when  discontent  and  faction  have 
the  surest  means  to  operate,  especially  in  this  coun- 
try, and  when,  from  a  scarcity  of  public  spirit,  the 
wheels  of  government  are  rarely  moved  but  by  the 
power  and  force  of  obligations,  its  weight  is  always 
too  great.     Yet,  if  this   influence,   at   present,  has 
done  no  greater  harm  than  the  placing  earl  Percy  at 
the  head  of  a  regiment,  I  do  not  think  that  either 
the  rights  or  best  interests  of  the  army  are  sacri- 
ficed and  betrayed,  or  the  nation  undone.     Let  me 
ask  Junius,  if  he  knows  any  one  nobleman  in  the 
army  who  has  had  a  regiment  by  seniority  ?     I  feel 
myself  happy   in  seeing  young  noblemen  of  illus- 
trious name  and  great  property  come  amongst  us. 
They  are  an   additional   security  to  the   kingdom 
from  foreign  or  domestic  slavery.     Junius  needs  not 
be  told,  that,  should  the  time  ever  come  when  this 
nation   is  to  be  defended  only  by  those  who  have 
nothing  more  to  lose  than  their  arms  and  their  pay, 
its  danger  will  be  great  indeed.     A  happy  mixture 
of  men  of  quality  with  soldiers  of  fortune  is  always 
to  be  wished  for.     But  the  main  point  is  still  to  be 
contended  for  ;  I  mean  the  discipline  and  condition 
of  the  army  ;  and  I  must  still  maintain,  though  con- 


JUMUS'S   LETTERS.  51 

tradicted  by  Junius,  that  it  was  never  upon  a  more 
respectable  footing,  as  to  all  the  essentials  that  can 
form  good  soldiers,  than  it  is  at  present.  Junius  is 
forced  to  allow,  that  our  army  at  home  may  be  in 
some  tolerable  order  ;  yet,  how  kindly  does  he  in- 
vite our  late  enemies  to  the  invasion  of  Ireland,  by 
assuring  them  that  the  army  in  that  kingdom  is 
totally  ruined  !  (The  colonels  of  that  army  are 
much  obliged  to  him.)  I  have  too  great  an  opinion 
of  the  military  talents  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  and  of 
all  their  diligence  and  capacity,  to  believe  it.  If, 
from  some  strange  unaccountable  fatality,  the  people 
of  that  kingdom  cannot  be  induced  to  consult  their 
own  security,  by  such  an  effectual  augmentation  as 
may  enable  the  troops  there  to  act  with  power  and 
energy,  is  the  commander-in-chief  here  to  blame  ? 
Or,  is  he  to  blame,  because  the  troops  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, in  the  West  Indies,  in  America,  labour 
under  great  difficulties  from  the  scarcity  of  men, 
which  is  but  too  visible  all  over  these  kingdoms  ; 
Many  of  our  forces  are  in  climates  unfavourable  to 
British  constitutions  ;  their  loss  is  in  proportion. 
Britain  must  recruit  all  these  regiments  from  her 
own  emaciated  bosom  ;  or,  more  precariously,  by 
catholics  from  Ireland.  We  are  likewise  subject  to 
the  fatal  drains  to  the  East  Indies,  to  Senegal,  and 
the  alarming  emigrations  of  our  people  to  othor 
countries.  Such  depopulation  can  only  be  repaired 
by  a  long  peace,  or  by  some  sensible  bill  of  natural- 
ization. 

I  must  now  lake  the  liberty  of  addressing  Junius 
on  my  own  account.  He  is  pleased  to  tell  me  that 
lie  addresses   himself  to   me  personally  :  I  shall  pie 


52  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

glad  to  see  him.  It  is  his  impersonality  that  I  com- 
plain of,  and  his  invisible  attacks  :  for  his  dagger  in 
the  air  is  only  to  be  regarded,  because  one  cannot 
see  the  hand  which  holds  it ;  but,  had  it  not  wounded 
other  people  more  deeply  than  myself,  I  should  not 
have  obtruded  myself  at  all  on  the  patience  of  the 
public. 

Mark  how  plain  a  tale  shall  put  him  down,  and 
transfuse  the  blush  of  my  ribbon  into  his  own  cheeks. 
Junius  tells  me,  that  at  my  return,  I  zealously  under- 
took the  cause  of  the  gallant  army,  by  whose  bra- 
very at  Manilla  my  own  fortunes  were  established  } 
that  I  complained,  that  I  even  appealed  to  the  public. 
I  did  so ;  I  glory  in  having  done  so,  as  I  had  an 
undoubted  right  to  vindicate  my  own  character, 
attacked  by  a  Spanish  memorial,  and  to  assert  the 
rights  of  my  brave  companions.  I  glory,  likewise, 
that  I  have  never  taken  up  my  pen  but  to  vindicate 
the  injured.  Junius  asks,  by  what  accident  did  it 
happen,  that,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  bustle,  and  all 
the  clamours  for  justice  to  the  injured  troops,  the 
Manilla  ransom  was  suddenly  buried  in  a  profound, 
and,  since  that  time,  an  uninterrupted  silence  ?  I 
will  explain  the  cause  to  the  public.  The  several 
ministers  who  have  been  employed  since  that  time 
have  been  very  desirous  to  do  justice,  from  two 
most  laudable  motives:  a  strong  inclination  to  assist 
injured  bravery,  and  to  acquire  a  well-deserved 
popularity  to  themselves.  Their  efforts  have  been 
in  vain.  Some  were  ingenuous  enough  to  own, 
that  they  could  not  think  of  involving  this  distressed 
nation  in  another  war  for  our  private  concerns.  In 
short,  our  rights,  for  the  present,  are  sacrificed  to 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  53 

national  convenience  ;  and  I  must  confess,  that  al- 
though I  may  lose  five-and-twenty  thousand  pounds 
by  their  acquiescence  to  this  breach  of  faith  in  the 
Spaniards,  I  think  they  are  in  the  right  to  temporize, 
considering  the  critical  situation  of  this  country, 
convulsed  in  every  part,  by  poison  infused  by 
anonymous,  wicked,  and  incendiary  writers.  Lord 
Shelburne  will  do  me  the  justice  to  own,  that  in 
September  last,  I  waited  upon  him  with  a  joint  me- 
morial from  the  admiral,  sir  S.  Cornish,  and  myself, 
in  behalf  of  our  injured  companions.  His  lordship 
was  as  frank  upon  the  occasion  as  other  secretaries 
had  been  before  him.  He  did  not  deceive  us,  by 
giving  any  immediate  hopes  of  relief. 
,  Junius  would  basely  insinuate,  that  my  silence 
may  have  been  purchased  by  my  goverment,  by 
my  blushing  rihbon,  by  my  regiment,  by  the  sale  of 
that  regiment,  and  by  half-pay  as  an  Irish  colonel. 

His  majesty  was  pleased  to  give  me  my  govern- 
ment for  my  service  at  Madras.  I  had  my  first 
regiment  in  1757.  Upon  my  return  from  Manilla, 
his  majest}',  by  lord  Egremont,  informed  me,  that 
I  should  have  the  first  vacant  red  ribbon,  as  a 
reward  for  many  services  in  an  enterprise  which  I 
had  planned  as  well  as  executed.  The  duke  of 
Bedford  and  Mr.  Grenville  confirmed  these  assu- 
rances, many  months  before  the  Spaniards  had  pro- 
tested the  ransom  bills.  To  accomodate  lord  Clive, 
then  going  upon  a  most  important  service  to  Bengal, 
I  waved  my  claim  to  the  vacancy  which  then  hap- 
pened. As  there  was  no  other  vacancy  until  the 
duke  of  Grafton  and  lord  Rockingham  were  joint 
ministers,  I  was  then  honoured  with  the  order  ;  and 


£4  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it  is  surely  no  small  honour  to  me,  that,  in  sucn  a 
succession  of  ministers,  they  were  all  pleased  to 
think  that  I  had  deserved  it  ;  in  my  favour  they 
were  all  united.  Upon  the  reduction  of  the  79th 
regiment,  v\vhich  had  served  so  gloriously  in  the 
East  Indies,  his  majest}',  unsolicited  by  me,  gave  me 
the  16th  of  foot  as  an  equivalent.  My  motives  for 
retiring,  afterwards,  are  foreign  to  the  purpose:  let 
it  suffice,  that  his  majesty  was  pleased  to  approve  of 
them :  they  are  such  as  no  man  can  think  indecent, 
who  knows  the  shocks  that  repeated  vicissitudes  of 
heat  and  cold,  of  dangerous  and  sickly  climates, 
will  give  to  the  best  constitutions,  in  a  pretty  long 
course  of  service.  I  resigned  my  regiment  to  colonel 
Gisborne,  a  very  good  officer,  for  his  half-pay,  and 
200?.  Irish  annuity  :  so  that,  according  to  Junius,  I 
have  been  bribed  to  say  nothing  more  of  the  Manilla 
ransom,  and  to  sacrifice  those  brave  men,  by  the 
strange  avarice  of  accepting  380Z.  per  annum,  and 
giving  up  800?. !  If  this  be  bribery,  it  is  not  the 
bribery  of  these  times.  As  to  my  flattery  >  those  who 
know  me  will  judge  of  it.  By  the  asperity  of  Junius's 
style,  I  cannot,  indeed,  call  him  a  flatterer,  unless  he 
be  as  a  cynic  or  a  mastiff:  if  he  wags  his  tail,  he  will 
still  growl,  and  long  to  bite.  The  public  will  now 
judge  of  the  credit  that  ought  to  be  given  to  Junius's 
writings,  from  the  falsities  that  he  has  insinuated  with 
respect  to  myself. 

WILLIAM  DRAPER. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  55 


V. 


To  Sir  William  Draper,  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

SIR,  February  21,  1769. 

I  should  justty  be  suspected  of  acting  upon  motives 
of  more  than  common  enmity  to  lord  Granby,  if  I 
continued  to  give  you  fresh  materials  or  occasion 
for  writing  in  his  defence.  Individuals  who  hate, 
and  the  public  who  despise,  have  read  your  letters, 
sir  William,  with  infinitely  more  satisfaction  than 
mine.  Unfortunately  for  him,  his  reputation,  like 
that  unhappy  country  to  which  you  refer  me  for  his 
last  military  achievements,  has  suffered  more  by  his 
friends  than  his  enemies.  In  mercy  to  him,  let  us 
drop  the  subject.  For  my  own  part,  I  willingly 
leave  it  to  the  public  to  determine,  whether  3'our 
vindication  of  your  friend  has  been  as  able  and  ju- 
dicious as  it  was  certainly  well  intended  :  and  you, 
I  think,  may  be  satisfied  with  the  warm  acknow- 
ledgments he  already  owes  you,  for  making  him  the 
principal  figure  in  a  piece,  in  which,  but  for  your 
amicable  assistance,  he  might  have  passed  without 
particular  notice  or  distinction. 

In  justice  to  your  friends,  let  your  future  labours 
be  confined  to  the  care  of  your  own  reputation. 
Your  declaration,  that  you  are  happy  in  seeing 
young  noblemen  come  among  us,  is  liable  to  two  ob- 
jections. With  respect  to  lord  Percy,  it  means 
nothing  ;  for  he  was  already  in  the  army.     He  wa£ 


56  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

aide-de-camp  to  the  king,  and  had  the  rank  of 
colonel.  A  regiment,  therefore,  could  not  make  him 
a  more  military  man,  though  it  made  him  richer  j 
and  probably  at  the  expense  of  some  brave,  deserv- 
ing, friendless  officer.  The  other  concerns  your- 
self. After  selling  the  companions  of  your  victory 
in  one  instance,  and  after  selling  your  profession  in 
the  other,  by  what  authority  do  you  presume  to  call 
yourself  a  soldier  ?  The  plain  evidence  of  facts  is 
Superior  to  all  declarations.  Before  you  were  ap- 
pointed to  the  16th  regiment,  your  complaints  were 
a  distress  to  government :  from  that  moment  you 
were  silent.  The  conclusion  is  inevitable.  You 
insinuate  to  us,  that  your  ill  state  of  health  obliged 
you  to  quit  the  service.  The  retirement  necessary 
to  repair  a  broken  constitution  would  have  been  as 
good  a  reason  for  not  accepting,  as  for  resigning, 
the  command  of  a  regiment.  There  is  certainly  an 
error  of  the  press,  or  an  affected  obscurity  in  that 
paragraph,  where  you  speak  of  your  bargain  with 
colonel  Gisborne.  Instead  of  attempting  to  answey 
what  I  do  not  really  understand,  permit  me  to  explain 
to  the  public  what  I  really  know.  In  exchange  for 
your  regiment,  you  accepted  of  a  colonel's  half-pay. 
(at  least  2201.  a  year)  and  an  annuity  of  2001.  for 
your  own  and  lady  Draper's  life  jointly.  And  ie 
this  the  losing  bargain,  which  you  would  represent 
to  us,  as  if  you  had  given  up  an  income  of  800Z.  a 
year  for  380Z.  ?  Was  it  decent,  was  it  honourable, 
in  a  man  who  pretends  to  love  the  army,  and  calls 
himself  a  soldier,  to  make  a  traffic  of  the  royal  fa- 
vour, and  turn  the  highest  honour  of  an  active  pro- 
fession into  a  sordid  provision  for  himself  and  his 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  51 

family  ?  It  were  unworthy  of  me  to  press  you  far- 
ther. The  contempt  with  which  the  whole  army 
heard  of  the  manner  of  your  retreat,  assures  me, 
that,  as  your  conduct  was  not  justified  by  precedent, 
it  will  never  be  thought  an  example  for  imitation. 

The  last  and  most  important  question  remains, 
When  you  receive  your  half-pay,  do  you  or  do  you 
not,  take  a  solemn  oath,  or  sign  a  declaration,  upon 
your  honour,  to  the  following  effect  ?  That  you  do- 
not  actually  hold  any  plaee  of  profit,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, under  his  majesty.  The  charge  which  the 
question  plainly  conveys  against  you,  is  of  so  shock- 
ing a  complexion,  that  I  sincerely  wish  you  may  be 
able  to  answer  it  well ;  not  merely  for  the  colour 
of  your  reputation,  but  for  your  own  inward  peace  of 
mind. 

JUNIUS. 


VI. 


To  Junius. 

SIR,  February  27,  1769. 

I  have  a  very  short  answer  for  Junius's  important 
question.  I  do  not  either  take  an  oath,  or  declare 
upon  my  honour,  that  I  hold  no  place  of  profit,  civil 
er  military,  when  I  receive  the  half-pay  as  an  Irish 
colonel :  my  most  gracious  sovereign  gives  it  me  as 
a  pension  :  he  was  pleased  to  think  I  deserved  it. 
The  annuity  of  200/.  Irish,   and  the  equivalent  for 

the  half-pay,   together  produce  no  more  than  380/. 

c  2 


58  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

per  annum,  clear  of  fees  and  perquisites  of  office. 
I  receive  167Z.  from  my  government  of  Yarmouth. 
Total  54:71.  per  annum.  My  conscience  is  much  at 
ease  in  these  particulars  :  my  friends  need  not  blush 
for  me. 

Junius  makes  much  and  frequent  use  of  interro- 
gations :  they  are  arms  that  may  be  easily  turned 
against  himself.  I  could,  by  malicious  interroga- 
tion, disturb  the  peace  of  the  most  virtuous  man  in 
the  kingdom.  I  could  take  the  decalogue,  and  say 
to  one  man,  Did  you  never  steal  ?  To  the  next, 
Did  you  never  commit  murder?  And  to  Junius 
himself,  who  is  putting  my  life  and  conduct  to  the 
rack,  Did  you  never  "  bear  false  witness  against 
thy  neighbour  ?"  Junius  must  easily  see,  that,  un- 
less he  affirms  to  the  contrary,  in  his  real  namer  some 
people,  who  may  be  as  ignorant  of  him  as  I  am,  will 
be  apt  to  suspect  him  of  having  deviated  a  little  from 
the  truth :  therefore  let  Junius  ask  no  more  questions. 
You  bite  against  a  file  :  Cease,  viper  ! 

W.  D. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  59 


VII. 


To  Sir  William  Draper,  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

SIR  March  3,  1769- 

An  academical  education  has  given  you  an  un- 
limited command  over  the  most  beautiful  figures  of 
speech.  Masks,  hatchets,  racks,  and  vipers,  dance 
through  your  letters  in  all  the  mazes  of  metaphorical 
confusion.  These  are  the  gloomy  companions  of  a 
disturbed  imagination ;  the  melancholy  madness  of 
poetry,  without  the  inspiration.  I  will  not  contend 
with  you  in  point  of  composition :  you  are  a  scholar, 
sir  William ;  and,  if  I  am  truly  informed,  you  write 
Latin  with  almost  as  much  purity  as  English.  Suf- 
fer me  then  (for  I  am  a  plain  unlettered  man)  to 
continue  that  style  of  interrogation  which  suits  my 
capacity,  and  to  which,  considering  the  readiness  of 
your  answers,  you  ought  to  have  no  objection. 
Even  Mr.  Bingley*  promises  to  answer,  if  put  to  the 
torture. 

Do  you  then  really  think,  that,  if  I  were  to  ask  a 
most  virtuous  man,  whether  he  ever  committed  theft 
or  murder,  it  would  disturb  his  peace  of  mind  ? 
Such   a  question   might,   perhaps,   discompose  the 

*  This  man,  being  committed  by  the  court  of  king's 
bench  for  contempt,  voluntarily  made  oath  that  he  would 
never  answer  interrogatories  unless  he  should  be  put  to  the 
torture. 


80  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

gravity  of  his  muscles,  but  I  believe  it  would  little 
affect  the  tranquillity  of  his  conscience.  Examine 
your  own  breast,  sir  William,  and  you  will  discover 
that  reproaches  and  inquiries  have  no  power  to 
afflict  either  the  man  of  unblemished  integrity  or  the 
abandoned  profligate.  It  is  the  middle  compound 
character  which  alone  is  vulnerable ;  the  man  who, 
without  firmness  enough  to  avoid  a  dishonourable 
action,  has  feeling  enough  to  be  ashamed  of  it. 

I  thank  you  for  the  hint  of  the  decalogue,  and 
shall  take  an  opportunity  of  applying  it  to  some  of 
your  most  virtuous  friends  in  both  houses  of  par- 
liament. 

You  seem  to  have  dropped  the  affair  of  your  regi- 
ment; so  let  it  rest.  When  you  are  appointed  to 
another,  I  dare  say  you  will  not  sell  it  either  for  a 
gross  sum,  or  for  an  annuity  upon  lives. 

I  am  truly  glad  (for  really,  sir  William,  I  am  not 
yoar  enemy,  nor  did  I  begin  this  contest  with  you) 
that  you  have  been  able  to  clear  yourself  of  a  crime, 
though  at  the  expense  of  the  highest  indiscretion. 
You  say  that  your  half-pay  was  given  you  by  way 
of  pension.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  the  singularity  of 
uniting  in  your  own  person  two  sorts  of  provision, 
which,  in  their  own  nature,  and  in  all  military  and 
parliamentary  views,  are  incompatible;  but  I  call 
upon  you  to  justify  that  declaration,  wherein  you 
charge  your  sovereign  with  having  done  an  act  in 
your  favour  notoriously  against  law.  The  half-pay, 
both  in  Ireland  and  England,  is  appropriated  by 
parliament;  and  if  it  be  given  to  persons  who,  like 
you,  are  legally  incapable  of  holding  it,  it  is  a  breach 
of  law.     It  would  have  been  more  decent  in  you  to 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  61 

have  called  this  dishonourable  transaction  by  its  true 
name  ;  a  job,  to  accommodate  two  persons,  by  par- 
ticular interest  and  management  at  the  castle.—- 
What  sense  must  government  have  had  of  your  ser- 
vices, when  the  rewards  they  have  given  you  are 
only  a  disgrace  to  you  ! 

And  now,  sir  William,  I  shall  take  my  leave  of 
you  for  ever.  Motives  very  different  from  any  ap- 
prehension of  your  resentment  make  it  impossible 
you  should  ever  know  me.  In  truth,  you  have 
some  reason  to  hold  yourself  indebted  to  me.  From 
the  lessons  I  have  given  you,  you  may  collect  a  pro- 
fitable instruction  for  your  future  life.  They  will 
either  teach  you  so  to  regulate  your  future  conduct, 
as  to  be  able  to  set  the  most  malicious  inquiries  at 
defiance  ;  or,  if  that  be  a  lost  hope,  they  will  teach 
you  prudence  enough  not  to  attract  the  public  atten- 
tion to  a  character,  which  will  only  pass  without 
censure,  when  it  passes  without  observation.* 

JUNIUS. 


*  It  has  been  said,  I  believe  truly,  that  it  was  signified 
10  sir  William  Draper,  as  the  request  of  lord  Granby,  that 
he  should  desist  from  writing  in  his  lordship's  defence.  Sir 
William  Draper  certainly  drew  Junius  forward  to  say  more 
of  lord  Granby's  character  than  he  originally  intended.  He 
was  reduced  to  the  dilemma,  of  either  being  totally  silenced, 
or  of  supporting  his  first  letter.  Whether  sir  William  had 
a  right  to  reduce  him  to  this  dilemma,  or  to  call  upon  hira 
for  his  name,  after  a  voluntary  attack  on  his  side,  are 
questions  submitted  to  the  candour  of  the  public.  The 
death  6f  lord  Granby  was  lamented  by  Junius.  He  un- 
doubtedly owed   some   comppnsations  to  the  public,   and 


62  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


VIII. 


To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  March  18,  1769- 

Before  you  were  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
it  had  been  a  maxim  of  the  English  government, 
not  unwillingly  admitted  by  the  people,  that  every 
ungracious  or  severe  exertion  of  the  prerogative 
should  be  placed  to  the  account  of  the  minister  ; 
but,  that  whenever  an  act  of  grace  or  benevolence 
was  to  be  performed,  the  whole  merit  of  it  should 
be  attributed  to  the  sovereign  himself.*  It  was  a 
wise  doctrine,  my  lord,   and  equally  advantageous 

seemed  determined  to  acquit  himself  of  them.  In  private 
life,  he  was  unquestionably  that  good  man,  who,  for  the 
interest  of  his  country,  ought  to  have  been  a  great  one. 
lionum  virum  facile  dixeris  !  magnum  libenter.  I  speak 
of  him  now  without  partiality ;  I  never  spoke  of  him  with 
resentment.  His  mistakes,  in  public  conduct,  did  not  arise 
either  from  want  of  sentiment,  or  want  of  judgment  j  but, 
iii  general,  from  the  difficulty  of  saying  no  to  the  bad  peo- 
ple who  surrounded  him. 

As  for  the  rest,  the  friends  of  lord  Granby  should  re- 
member, that  he  himself  thought  proper  to  condemn^ 
retract,  and  disavow,  by  a  most  solemn  declaration,  in  the 
house  of  commons,  that  very  system  of  political  conduct 
which  Junius  has  held  forth  to  the  disapprobation  of  the 
public. 

*  Les  rois  ne  se  sont  reserves  que  les  graces.  lis  renvoient 
ies  condamnations  vers  leurs  omciers. — Montesquieu. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  63 

to  the  king  and  his  subjects  ;  for  while  it  preserved 
that  suspicious  attention  with  which  the  people 
ought  always  to  examine  the  conduct  of  ministers, 
it  tended,  at  the  same  time,  rather  to  increase  than 
diminish  their  attachment  to  the  person  of  their 
sovereign.  If  there  be  not  a  fatality  attending  every 
measure  you  are  concerned  in,  by  what  treachery, 
or  by  what  excess  of  folly  has  it  happened,  that 
those  ungracious  acts  which  have  distinguished  your 
administration,  and  which,  I  doubt  not,  were  en- 
tirely your  own,  should  carry  with  them  a  strong 
appearance  of  personal  interest,  and  even  of  per- 
sonal enmity,  in  a  quarter  where  no  such  interest 
or  enmity  can  be  supposed  to  exist,  without  the 
highest  injustice,  and  the  highest  dishonour  .?  On 
the  other  hand,  by  what  judicious  management  have 
you  contrived  it,  that  the  only  act  of  mercy  to 
which  you  ever  advised  your  sovereign,  far  from 
adding  to  the  lustre  of  a  character  truly  gracious 
and  benevolent,  should  be  received  with  universal 
disapprobation  and  disgust  ?  I  shall  consider  it  as 
a  ministerial  measure,  because  it  is  an  odious  one, 
and  as  your  measure,  my  lord  duke,  because  you  are 
the  minister. 

As  long  as  the  trial  of  this  chairman  was  depend- 
ing, it  was  natural  enough  that  government  should 
give  him  every  possible  encouragement  and  support. 
The  honourable  service  for  which  he  was  hired,  and 
the  spirit  with  which  he  performed  it,  made  common 
cause  between  your  grace  and  him.  The  minister, 
who  by  secret  corruption,  invades  the  freedom  of 
elections,  and  the  ruffian,  who,  by  open  violence 
destroys  that  freedom,   are  embarked  in  the  same 


64  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

bottom  ;  they  have  the  same  interests,  and  mutually 
feel  for  each  other.  To  do  justice  to  your  grace'* 
humanity,  you  felt  for  M' Quirk  as  you  ought  to  do ; 
and  if  you  had  been  contented  to  assist  him  indi- 
rectly, without  a  notorious  denial  of  justice,  or 
openly  insulting  the  sense  of  the  nation,  you  might 
have  satisfied  every  duty  of  political  friendship,  with- 
out committing  the  honour  of  your  sovereign,  or 
hazarding  the  reputation  of  his  government.  But 
when  this  unhappy  man  had  been  solemnly  tried, 
convicted,  and  condemned  ;  when  it  appeared  that 
he  had  been  frequently  employed  in  the  same  ser- 
vices, and  that  no  excuse  for  him  could  be  drawn 
either  from  the  innocence  of  his  former  life,  or  the 
simplicity  of  his  character ;  was  it  not  hazarding  too 
much,  to  interpose  the  strength  of  the  prerogative 
between  this  felon  and  the  justice  of  his  country  ?* 


*  Whitehall,  March  11,  1769.     His  majesty  has  been 
graciously  pleased  to  extend  his  royal  mercy  to  Edward 
M'Quirk,  found  guilty  of  the  murder  of  George  Clarke,  as 
appears  by  his  royal  warrant,  to  the  tenour  following  : 
GEORGE  R. 

Whereas  a  doubt  has  arisen  in  our  royal  breast  concern- 
fug  the  evidence  of  the  death  of  George  Clarke,  from  the 
representations  of  William  Broomfield,  esq.  surgeon,  and 
Solomon  Starling,  apothecary  ;  both  of  whom,  as  has  been 
represented  to  us,  attended  the  deceased  before  his  death, 
and  expressed  their  opinions  that  he  did  not  die  of  the  blow 
he  received  at  Brentford :  and  whereas  it  appears  to  us 
that  neither  of  the  said  persons  were  produced  as  witnesses. 
upon  the  trial,  though  the  said  Solomon  Starling  had  been 
examined  before  the  coroner ;  and  the  only  person  called 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  65 

You  ought  to  have  known  that  an  example  of  this 
sort  was  never  so  necessary  as  at  present ;  and  cer- 
tainly you  must  have  known,  that  the  lot  could  not 
have  fallen  upon  a  more  guilty  object.     What  sys- 


to  prove  that  the  death  of  the  said  George  Clarke  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  said  blow,  was  John  Foot,  surgeon,  who  never 
saw  the  deceased  till  after  his  death  :  we  thought  fit  there- 
apon  to  refer  the  said  representations,  together  with  the  re- 
port of  the  recorder  of  our  city  of  London,  of  the  evidence 
given  by  Richard  and  William  Beale  and  the  said  John 
Foot,  on  the  trial  of  Edward  Quirk,  otherwise  called  Ed- 
ward Kirk,  otherwise  called  Edward  M<  Quirk,  for  the  mur- 
der of  the  said  Clarke,  to  the  master,  wardens,  and  the  rest 
of  the  court  of  examiners  of  the  surgeons'  company,  com- 
manding them  likewise  to  take  such  farther  examination  of 
the  said  persons,  so  representing,  and  of  said  John  Foot,  as 
they  might  think  necessary,  together  with  the  premises 
above-mentioned,  to  form  and  report  to  us  their  opinion. 
**  Whether  it  did  or  did  not  appear  to  them  that  the  said 
George  Clarke  died  in  consequence  of  the  blow  he  received 
in  the  riot  at.  Brentford  on  the  8th  of  December  last." 
And  the  said  court  of  examiners  of  the  surgeons'  company 
Iraving  thereupon  reported  to  us  their  opinion, — "  That  it 
did  not  appear  to  them  that  he  did  ;"  we  have  thought  proper 
to  extend  our  royal  mercy  to  him  the  said  Edward  Quirk, 
otherwise  Edward  Kirk,  otherwise  called  Edward  M'Quirk, 
and  to  grant  him  our  free  pardon  for  the  murder  of  the  said 
George  Clarke,  of  which  he  has  been  found  guilty.  Our  will 
and  pleasure,  therefore,  is,  That  the  said  Edward  Quirk, 
otherwise  called  Edward  Kirk,  otherwise  called  Edward 
M'Quirk,  be  inserted,  for  the  said  murder,  in  our  first  and 
next  general  pardon  that  shall  come  out  for  the  poor  convicts 

of  Newgate,  without  any  condition  whatsoever ;  and  that,  in 

5 


66  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

tem  of  government  is  this  ?  You  are  perpetually 
complaining  of  the  riotous  disposition  of  the  lowef 
class  of  people ;  yet  when  the  laws  have  given  you 
the  means  of  making  an  example,  in  every  sense 
unexceptionable,  and  by  far  the  most  likely  to  awe 
the  multitude,  you  pardon  the  offence,  and  are  not 
ashamed  to  give  the  sanction  of  government  to  the 
riots  you  complain  of,  and  even  to  future  murders. 
Fou  are  partial,  perhaps,  to  the  military  mode  of  ex- 
ecution ;  and  had  rather  see  a  score  of  these  wretches 
butchered  by  the  guards,  than  one  of  them  suffer 
death  by  regular  course  of  law.  How  does  it  hap- 
pen, my  lord,  that,  in  your  hands,  even  the  mercy 
of  the  prerogative  is  cruelty  and  oppression  to  the 
subject  ? 

The  measure,  it  seems,  was  so  extraordinary,  that 
you  thought  it  necessary  to  give  some  reasons  for  it 
to  the  public.     Let  them  be  fairly  examined. 

1.  You  say,  that  Messrs.  Broomjield  and  Starling 
were  not  examined  at  M(  Quirk's  trial.     I  will  tdl 


the  mean  time,  you  take  bail  for  his  appearance,  in  order  to 
plead  our  said  pardon.  And  for  so  doing  this  shall  be  your 
warrant. 

Given  at  our  court  at  St.  James's,  the  tenth  day  of 

March,  1769,  in  the  ninth  year  of  our  reign. 
By  his  majesty's  command.  ROCHFORD. 

To  our  trusty  and  well-beloved 
James  Eyre,  esq.  recorder  of 
our  city  of  London,  the  sheriffs 
of  our  said  city  and  county  of 
Middlesex,  and  all  others  whom 
it  may  concern. 


JUNIUS'^  LETTERS.  87 

your  grace  why  they  were  not.  They  must  have 
been  examined  upon  oath  ;  and  it  was  foreseen,  that 
their  evidence  would  either  not  benefit,  or  might  be 
prejudicial,  to  the  prisoner.  Otherwise,  is  it  con- 
ceivable that  his  counsel  should  neglect  to  call  in  such 
material  evidence  ? 

2.  You  say,  that  Mr.  Foot  did  not  see  the  deceased 
until  after  his  death.  A  surgeon,  my  lord,  must 
know  very  little  of  his  profession,  if,  upon  examin- 
ing a  wound  or  a  contusion,  he  cannot  determine 
whether  it  was  mortal  or  not.  While  the  party  is 
alive,  a  surgeon  will  be  cautious  of  pronouncing  ; 
whereas,  by  the  death  cf  the  patient,  he  is  enabled 
to  consider  both  cause  and  effect  in  one  view,  and 
to  speak  with  a  certainty  confirmed  by  experience. 

3.  Yet  we  are  to  thank  your  grace  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  tribunal.  Your  inquisito  post 
mortem,  is  unknown  to  the  laws  of  England,  and 
does  honour  to  your  invention.  The  only  material 
abjection  to  it  is,  that  if  Mr.  Foot's  evidence  was 
insufficient,  because  he  did  not  examine  the  wound 
till  after  the  death  of  the  party,  much  less  can  a 
negative  opinion,  given  by  gentlemen  who  never  saw 
the  body  of  Mr.  Clarke  either  before  or  after  his 
decease,  authorise  you  to  supersede  the  verdict  of  a 
jnry,  and  the  sentence  of  the  law. 

Now,  my  lord,  let  me  ask  you,  Has  it  never  oc- 
curred to  your  grace,  while  you  were  withdrawing 
this  desperate  wretch  from  that  justice  which  the  laws 
had  awarded,  and  which  the  whole  people  of  Eng- 
land demanded  against  him,  that  there  is  another 
man,  who  is  the  favourite  of  his  country,  whose 
pardon  would   have   been  accepted  with  gratitude, 


69  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

whose  pardon  would  have  healed  all  our  divisions'  ? 
Have  you  quite  forgotten  that  this  man  was  once 
your  grace's  friend  ?  Or,  is  it  to  murderers  only  that 
you  will  extend  the  mercy  of  the  crown  ? 

These  are  questions  you  will  not  answer,  nor  is  it 
necessary.  The  character  of  your  private  life,  and 
the  uniform  tenor  of  your  public  Conduct,  is  an 
answer  to  them  all. 

JUNIUS. 


IX. 


To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  April  10,  1769. 

I  have  so  good  an  opinion  of  your  grace's  dis- 
cernment, that  when  the  author  of  the  vindication  of 
your  conduct  assures  us  that  he  writes  from  his  own 
mere  motion,  without  the  least  authority  from  your 
grace,  I  should  be  ready  enough  to  believe  him,  but 
for  one  fatal  mark,  which  seems  to  be  fixed  upon 
every  measure  in  which  either  your  personal  or 
political  character  is  concerned.  Your  first  attempt 
to  support  sir  William  Proctor  ended  in  the  election 
of  Mr.  Wilkes ;  the  second  insured  success  to  Mr. 
Glynn.  The  extraordinary  step  you  took  to  make 
sir  James  Lowther  lord  paramount  of  Cumberland 
has  ruined  his  interest  in  that  county  for  ever  :  the 
house  list  of  directors  was  cursed  with  the  concur- 
rence   of   government ;    and    even    the    miserable 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  69 

Dingley*  could  not  escape  the  misfortune  of  your 
grace's  protection.  With  this  uniform  experience 
before  us,  we  are  authorised  to  suspect,  that  when  a 
pretended  vindication  of  your  principles  and  con- 
duct, in  reality,  contains  the  bitterest  reflections 
upon  both,  it  could  not  have  been  written  without 
your  immediate  direction  and  assistance.  The 
author,  indeed,  calls  God  to  witness  for  him,  with 
all  the  sincerity,  and  in  the  very  terms  of  an  Irish 
evidence,  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief. 
My  lord,  you  should  not  encourage  these  appeals  to 
Heaven.  The  pious  prince,  from  whom  you  are 
supposed  to  descend,  made  such  frequent  use  of  them 
in  his  public  declarations,  that,  at  last,  the  people 
also  found  it  necessary  to  appeal  to  Heaven  in  their 
turn.  Your  administration  has  driven  us  into  cir- 
cumstances of  equal  distress  :  beware,  at  least,  how 
you  remind  us  of  the  remedy. 

You  have  already  much  to  answer  for.  You  have 
provoked  this  unhappy  gentleman  to  play  the  fool 
once  more  in  public  life,  in  spite  of  his  years  and 
infirmities  :  and  to  show  us,  that,  as  you  yourself 
are  a  singular  instance  of  youth  without  spirit,  the 
man  who  defends  you  is  a  no  less  remarkable  ex- 
ample of  age  without  the  benefit  of  experience.  To 
follow  such  a  writer  minutely,  would,  like  his  owh 

*  This  unfortunate  person  had  been  persuaded  by  the 
duke  of  Grafton  to  set  up  for  Middlesex,  his  grace  being 
determined  to  seat  him  in  the  house  of  commons,  if  he  had 
but  a  single  vote.  It  happened,  unluckily,  that  he  could 
not  prevail  upon  any  one  freeholder  to  put  him  in  nomi- 
nation. 


70  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

periods,  be  labour  without  end.  The  subject  too 
has  been  already  discussed,  and  is  sufficiently  un- 
derstood. I  cannot  help  observing,  however,  that 
when  the  pardon  of  M' Quirk  was  the  principal 
charge  against  you,  it  would  have  been  but  a  decent 
compliment  to  your  grace's  understanding,  to  have 
defended  you  upon  your  own  principles.  What 
credit  does  a  man  deserve,  who  tells  us  plainly,  that 
the  facts  set  forth  in  the  king's  proclamation  were 
not  the  true  motives  on  which  the  pardon  was 
granted  ?  and  that  he  wishes  that  those  chirurgical 
reports,  which  first  gave  occasion  to  certain  doubts 
in  the  royal  breast,  had  not  been  laid  before  his 
majesty  ?  You  see,  my  lord,  that  even  your  friends 
cannot  defend  your  actions,  without  changing  your 
principles ;  nor  justify  a  deliberate  measure  of  go- 
vernment without  contradicting  the  main  assertion 
on  which  it  was  founded. 

The  conviction  of  M'Quirk  had  reduced  you  to 
a  dilemma  in  which  it  was  hardly  possible  for  you 
to  reconcile  your  political  interest  with  your  duty. 
You  were  obliged  either  to  abandon  an  active,  use- 
ful partizan,  or  to  protect  a  felon  from  public  jus- 
tice. With  your  usual  spirit  you  preferred  your 
interest  to  every  other  consideration  ;  .and,  with 
your  usual  judgment,  you  founded  your  determina- 
tion upon  the  only  motives  which  should  not  have 
been  given  to  the  public. 

I  have  frequently  censured  Mr.  Wilkes's  conduct, 
yet  your  advocate  reproaches  me  with  having  de- 
voted myself  to  the  service  of  sedition.  Your  grace 
can  best  inform  us  for  which  of  Mr.  Wilkes's  good 
qualities  you  first  honoured  him  with  your  friend* 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  71 

ship,  or  how  long  it  was  before  3*011  discovered 
those  bad  ones  in  him,  at  which,  it  seems,  your 
delicacy  was  offended.  Remember,  my  lord,  that 
you  continued  your  connexion  with  Mr.  Wilkes, 
long  after  he  had  been  convicted  of  those  crimes 
which  you  have  since  taken  pains  to  represent  in 
the  blackest  colours  of  blasphemy  and  treason. 
How  unlucky  is  it,  that  the  first  instance  you  have 
given  us  of  a  scrupulous  regard  to  decorum,  is 
united  with  a  breach  of  a  moral  obligation  !  For 
my  own  part,  my  lord,  I  am  proud  to  affirm,  that 
if  I  had  been  weak  enough  to  form  such  a  friend- 
ship, I  would  never  have  been  base  enough  to  betray 
it.  But  let  Mr.  Wilkes's  character  be  what  it  may, 
this,  at  least  is  certain  ;  that  circumstanced  as 
he  is,  with  regard  to  the  public,  even  his  vices 
plead  for  him.  The  people  of  England  have  too 
much  discernment  to  suffer  your  grace  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  failings  of  a  private  character,  to 
establish  a  precedent  by  which  the  public  liberty  is 
affected,  and  which  you  may  hereafter,  with  equal 
ease  and  satisfaction,  employ  to  the  ruin  of  the 
best  men  in  the  kingdom.  Content  yourself,  my 
lord,  with  the  many  advantages  which  the  unsullied 
purity  of  your  own  character  has  given  you  over 
your  unhappy  deserted  friend.  Avail  yourself  of 
all  the  unforgiving  piety  of  the  court  you  live  in, 
and  bless  God  that  '  you  are  not  as  other  men  are  ; 
extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  pub- 
lican.' In  a  heart  void  of  feeling,  the  laws  of  honour 
and  good  faith  may  be  violated  with  impunity,  and 
there  you  may  safely  indulge  your  genius.  But  the 
laws  of  England  shall  not  be  violated,  even  by  your 


72  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

holy  zeal  to  oppress  a  sinner  j  and,  though  you  have 
succeeded  in  making  him  a  tool,  you  shall  not  make 
him  the  victim  of  your  ambition. 

JUNIUS. 


X. 


To  Mr.  Edward  Weston. 

SIR,  April  21,  1769. 

I  said  you  were  an  old  man  without  the  benefit  of 
experience.  It  seems  you  are  also  a  volunteer,  with 
the  stipend  of  twenty  commissions  ;  and  at  a  period 
when  all  prospects  are  at  an  end,  you  are  still  look- 
ing forward  to  rewards  which  you  cannot  enjoy. 
No  man  is  better  acquainted  with  the  bounty  of 
government  than  you  are  ; 


Ton  impudence, 


Temeraire  vieillard,  aura  sa  recompence. 

But  I  will  not  descend  to  an  altercation  either  with 
the  impotence  of  your  age,  or  the  peevishness  of  your 
diseases.  Your  pamphlet,  ingenious  as  it  is,  has  beea 
so  little  read,  that  the  public  cannot  know  how  far 
you  have  a  right  to  give  me  the  lie,  without  the  fol- 
lowing citation  of  your  own  words  : 

Page  6th.  '  1.  That  he  is  persuaded  that  the  mo- 
tives which  he  (Mr.  Weston)  has  alleged,  must  ap- 
pear fully  sufficient  with  or  without  the  opinions  of 
the  surgeons. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  75 

'  2.  That  those  very  motives  must  have  been  the 
foundation  on  which  the  earl  of  Rochford  thought 
proper,  &tc. 

'  3.  That  he  cannot  but  regret,  that  the  earl  of 
Rochford  seems  to  have  thought  proper  to  lay  the 
chirurgical  reports  before  the  king,  in  preference  to 
all  the  other  sufficient  motives,'  &c. 

Let  the  public  determine  whether  this  be  defending 
government  on  their  principles  or  your  own. 

The  style  and  language  you  have  adopted  are,  T 
confess,  not  ill-suited  to  the  elegance  of  your  own 
manners,  or  to  the  dignity  of  the  cause  you  have 
undertaken.  Every  common  dauber  writes  rasca? 
and  villain  under  his  pictures,  because  the  picture 
themselves  have  neither  character  nor  resemblance. 
But  the  works  of  a  master  require  no  index  ;  his 
features  and  colouring  are  taken  from  nature  ;  the 
impression  they  make  is  immediate  and  uniform  , 
nor  is  it  possible  to  mistake  his  characters,  whether 
they  represent  the  treachery  of  a  minister,  or  the 
abused  simplicity  of  a  king. 

JUNTCS 


VOL.   1- 


74  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 


XI. 


To  his   Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  April  24,  1769. 

The  system  you  seemed  to  have  adopted  when 
ord  Chatham  unexpectedly  left  you  at  the  head  of 
affairs,  gave  us  no  promise  of  that  uncommon  exer- 
tion of  vigour  which  has  since  illustrated  your  char- 
acter, and  distinguished  your  administration.  Far 
from  discovering  a  spirit  bold  enough  to  invade  the 
first  rights  of  the  people  and  the  first  principles  o 
the  constitution,  you  were  scrupulous  of  exercising 
even  those  powers  with  which  the  executive  branch 
of  the  legislature  is  legally  invested.  We  have  not 
yet  forgotten  how  long  Mr.  Wilkes  was  suffered  to 
appear  at  large,  nor  how  long  he  was  at  liberty  to 
canvass  for  the  city  and  county,  with  all  the  terrors 
of  an  outlawry  hanging  over  him.  Our  gracious 
sovereign  has  not  yet  forgotten  the  extraordinary 
care  you  took  of  his  dignity,  and  of  the  safety  of 
his  person,  when,  at  a  crisis  which  courtiers  af- 
fected to  call  alarming,  you  left  the  metropolis  ex- 
posed, for  two  nights  together,  to  every  species  of 
riot  and  disorder.  The  security  of  the  royal  resi- 
dence from  insult  was  then  sufficiently  provided  for 
in  Mr.  Conway's  firmness,  and  lord  Weymouth's 
discretion  ;  while  the  prime  minister  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, in  a  rural  retirement,  and  in  the  arms  of  faded 
beauty,  had  lost  all  memory  of  his  sovereign,  his 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  75 

country  and  himself.  In  these  instances  you  might 
have  acted  with  vigour,  for  you  would  have  had  the 
sanction  of  the  laws  to  support  you  :  the  friends 
of  government  might  have  defended  you  without 
shame  ;  and  moderate  men,  who  wish  well  to  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  society,  might  have  had  a 
pretence  for  applauding  your  conduct.  But  these, 
it  seems,  were  not  occasions  worthy  of  your  grace's 
interposition.  You  reserved  the  proofs  of  }'our  in- 
trepid spirit  for  trials  of  greater  hazard  and  im- 
portance ;  and  now,  as  if  the  most  disgraceful  re- 
laxation of  the  executive  authority  had  given  you  a 
claim  of  credit  to  indulge  in  excesses  still  more 
dangerous,  you  seem  determined  to  compensate 
amply  for  your  former  negligence,  and  to  balance* 
the  non-execution  of  the  laws  with  a  breach  of  the 
constitution.  From  one  extreme  you  suddenly  start 
to  the  other,  without  leaving,  between  the  weakness 
and  the  fury  of  the  passions,  one  moment's  interva 
for  the  firmness  of  the  understanding. 

These  observations,  general  as  they  are,  might 
easily  be  extended  into  a  faithful  history  of  you)- 
grace's  administration,  and  perhaps  may  be  the  em- 
ployment of  a  future  hour.  But  the  business  of  the 
present  moment  will  not  suffer  me  to  look  back  to  a 
series  of  events,  which  cease  to  be  interesting  or  im- 
portant, because  they  are  succeeded  by  a  measure  so 
singularly  daring,  that  it  excites  all  our  attention,  and 
engrosses  all  our  resentment. 

Your  patronage  of  Mr.  Luttrell  has  been  crowned 
with  success.  With  this  precedent  before  you,  with 
the  principles  on  which  it  was  established,  and  with 
a  future  house   of  commons,  perhaps  less   virtuous 


76  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

than  the  present,  every  county  in  England,  under  the 
auspices  of  die  treasury,  may  be  represented  as  com- 
pletely as  the  county  of  Middlesex.     Posterity  will 
be  indebted  to  your  grace  for  not  contenting  yourself 
with  a  temporary  expedient,  but  entailing  upon  them 
the    immediate    blessings    of    your    administration. 
Boroughs  were  already  too  much  at  the  mercy  of 
government.     Counties  could  neither  be  purchased 
nor  intimidated.     But  their  solemn  determined  elec- 
tion may  be  rejected  ;  and  the  man  they  detest  may 
be  appointed  by  another  choice  to  represent  them   in 
parliament.     Yet   it   is    admitted,    that    the   sheriffs 
obeyed  the  laws,  and  performed  their  duty.*     The 
return  they  made  must  have  been  legal  and  valid,  or 
undoubtedly   they   would    have    been   censured   for 
making    it.     With    every    good-natured    allowance^ 
for  vour  grace's  youth  and  inexperience,  there  are 
some  things  which   you   cannot  but   know.     You 
cannot  but  know,  that  the  right  of  the  freeholders 
to   adhere   to  their   choice    (even    supposing  it  im- 
properly   exerted)    was    as    clear    and   indisputable 
as  that  of  the  house  of  commons  to  exclude  one  of 
their  own  members.     Nor  is  it  possible  for  you  not 
to  see  the  wide  distance  there  is  between  the  nega- 
tive power  of  rejecting  one  man,  and   the  positive 
power   of  appointing   another.     The  right   of   ex- 
pulsion,  in  the  most  favourable  sense,  is  no  more 
than  the  custom  of  parliament.     The  right  of  elec- 
tion is  the  very  essence  of  the  constitution.     To  vio- 
late that  right,  and  much  more  to  transfer  it  to  any 

*  Sir  Fletcher  Norton,  when  it  was  proposed  to  punish 
the  sheriffs,  declared  in  the  house  of  commons,  that  they,  in 
returning  Mr.  Wilkes,  had  done  no  more  than  their  duty, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  7? 

Other  set  of  men,  is  a  step  leading  immediately  to  the 
dissolution  of  all  government.  So  far  forth  as  it 
operates,  it  constitutes  a  house  of  commons  which 
does  not  represent  the  people.  A  house  of  commons 
so  formed  would  involve  a  contradiction,  and  the  ' 
grossest  confusion  of  ideas  :  but  there  are  some 
ministers,  my  lord,  whose  views  can  only  be  answer- 
ed by  reconciling  absurdities,  and  making  the  same 
proposition,  which  is  false  and  absurd  in  argument, 
true  in  fact. 

This  measure,  my  lord,  is,  however,  attended  with 
one  consequence  favourable  to  the  people,  which 
I  am  persuaded  you  did  not  foresee.*  While  the 
contest  lay  between  the  ministry  and  Mr.  Wilkes, 
his  situation  and  private  character  gave  you  advan- 
tages over  him,  which  common  candour,  if  not  the 
memory  of  your  former  friendship,  should  have 
forbidden  you  to  make  use  of.  To  religious  men 
3011  had  an  opportunity  of  exaggerating  the  irregu- 
larities of  his  past  life  ;  to  moderate  men  you  held 
ibrth  the  pernicious  consequences  of  faction.  Men 
who,  with  this  character,  looked  no  farther  than 
to  the  object  before  them,  were  not  dissatisfied  at 
seeing  Mr.  Wilkes  excluded  from  parliament.  You 
have  now  taken  care  to  shift  the  question  ;  or  rather, 
you  have  created  a  new  one,  in  which  Mr.  Wilkes  is 
no  more  concerned  than  any  other  English  gentle- 
man. You  have  united  this  country  against  you  on 
one  grand  constitutional  point,  on  the  decision  of 
which  our  existence,  as  a  free  people,  absolutely  de- 
pends.    You  have  asserted,  not  in  words,  but  in  fact. 

The  reader  is  desired  to  mark  this  prophecy. 


78  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

that  the  representation  in  parliament  does  not  depend 
upon  the  choice  of  the  freeholders.  If  such  a  case 
can  possibly  happen  once,  it  may  happen  frequently  ; 
it  may  happen  always  :  and  if  three  hundred  votes, 
by  any  mode  of  reasoning  whatever,  can  prevail 
against  twelve  hundred,  the  same  reasoning  would 
equally  have  given  Mr.  Luttrell  his  seat  with  ten 
votes,  or  even  with  one.  The  consequences  of  this 
attack  upon  the  constitution  are  too  plain  and 
palpable,  not  to  alarm  the  dullest  apprehension.  I 
trust  you  will  find  that  the  people  of  England  are 
neither  deficient  in  spirit  or  understanding ;  though 
you  have  treated  them  as  if  they  had  neither  sense  to 
feel  nor  spirit  to  resent.  We  have  reason  to  thank 
Gdd  and  our  ancestors,  that  there  never  yet  was  a 
minister  in  this  country  who  could  stand  the  issue  of 
such  a  conflict;  and,  with  every  prejudice  in  favour 
of  your  intentions,  I  see  no  such  abilities  in  your 
grace,  as  should  enable  you  to  succeed  in  an  enter- 
prise, in  which  the  ablest  and  basest  of  your  prede- 
cessors have  found  their  destruction.  You  may  con- 
tinue to  deceive  your  gracious  master  with  false 
representations  of  the  temper  and  condition  of  his 
subjects :  you  may  command  a  venal  vote,  because 
it  is  the  common  established  appendage  of  your 
office  :  but  never  hope  that  the  freeholders  will  make 
a  tame  surrender  of  their  rights ;  or,  that  an  English 
army  will  join  with  you  in  overturning  the  liberties 
of  their  country.  They  know,  that  their  first  duty, 
as  citizens,  is  paramount  to  all  subsequent  engage- 
ments :  nor  will  they  prefer  the  discipline,  or  even 
the  honours  of  their  profession,  to  those  sacred  origi- 
nal rights  which  belonged  to  them  before  they  were 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  79 

soldiers,  and  which  they  claim  and  possess   as  the 
birth-right  of  Englishmen. 

Return,  my  lord,  before  it  be  too  late,  to  that  easy 
insipid  system  which  you  first  set  out  with.  Take 
back  your  mistress.*  The  name  of  friend  may  be 
fatal  to  her,  for  it  leads  to  treachery  and  persecution. 
Indulge  the  people.  Attend  Newmarket.  Mr.  Lut- 
trell  may  again  vacate  his  seat ;  and  Mr.  Wilkes, 
if  not  persecuted,  will  soon  be  forgotten.  To  be 
weak  and  inactive  is  safer  than  to  be  daring  and 
criminal  ;  and  wide  is  the  distance  between  a  riot 
■of  the  populace  and  a  convulsion  of  the  whole  king- 
dom. You  may  live  to  make  the  experiment,  but  no 
honest  man  can  wish  you  should  survive  it. 

JUNIUS. 


XII. 


To  his  Grace  the  Diike  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  May  30,  1769. 

If  the  measures  in  which  you  have  been  most  suc- 
cessful had  been  supported  by  any  tolerable  appear- 
ance of  argument,  I  should  have  thought  my  time 
not    ill    employed   in  continuing  to  examine  your 

*  The  duke,  about  this  time,  had  separated  himself  from 
Anne  Parsons  ;  but  proposed  to  continue  united  with  her 
on  some  platonic  terms  of  friendship,  which  she  rejected 
with  contempt.  His  baseness  to  this  woman  is  beyond  de- 
scription or  belief. 


§0  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

conduct  as  a  minister,  and  stating  it  fairly  to  the 
public.  But  when  I  see  questions  of  the  highest 
national  importance  carried  as  they  have  been,  and 
the  first  principles  of  the  constitution  openly  vio= 
lated,  without  argument  or  decency,  I  confess  I  give 
up  the  cause  in  despair.  The  meanest  of  your  pre- 
decessors had  abilities  sufficient  to  give  a  colour  to 
their  measures.  If  they  invaded  the  rights  of  the 
people,  they  did  not  dare  to  offer  a  direct  insult  to 
their  understanding ;  and,  in  former  times,  the  most 
venal  parliaments  made  it  a  condition,  in  their  bar- 
gain with  the  minister,  that  he  should  furnish  them 
with  some  plausible  pretences  for  selling  their  coun- 
try and  themselves.  You  have  had  the  merit  of  in- 
troducing a  more  compendious  system  of  government 
and  logic.  You  neither  address  yourself  to  the  pas- 
sions nor  the  understanding,  but  simply  to  the  touch. 
You  apply  yourself  immediately  to  the  feelings  of 
your  friends ;  who,  contrary  to  the  forms  of  parlia- 
ment, never  enter  heartily  into  a  debate  until  they 
have  divided. 

Relinquishing,  therefore,  all  idle  views  of  amend- 
ment to  your  grace,  or  of  benefit  to  the  public,  let 
me  be  permitted  to  consider  your  character  and  con- 
duct, merely  as  a  subject  of  curious  speculation. 
There  is  something  in  both  which  distinguishes  you, 
not  only  from  all  other  ministers,  but  all  other  men. 
It  is  not  that  you  do  wrong  by  design,  but  that  you 
should  never  do  right  by  mistake.  It  is  not  that 
your  indolence  and  your  activity  have  been  equally 
misapplied,  but  that  the  first  uniform  principle,  or,  if 
I  may  call  it,  the  genius  of  your  life,  should  have 
carried  you  through  every  possible  change  and  con- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  81 

traduction  of  conduct,  without  the  momentary  impu- 
tation or  colour  of  a  virtue  ;  and  that  the  wildest 
spirit  of  inconsistency  should  never  once  have  betrayed 
you  into  a  wise  or  honourable  action.  This,  I  own, 
gives  an  air  of  singularity  to  your  fortune,  as  well  as 
to  your  disposition.  Let  us  look  back,  together,  to 
a  scene,  in  which  a  mind  like  yours  will  find  nothing 
to  repent  of.  Let  us  try,  my  lord,  how  well  you 
have  supported  the  various  relations  in  which  you 
>tood  to  your  sovereign,  your  country,  your  friends, 
and  yourself.  Give  us,  if  it  be  possible,  some  excuse 
to  posterity  and  to  ourselves,  for  submitting  to  yciu- 
administration.  If  not  the  abilities  of  a  great  minis- 
ter, if  not  the  integrity  of  a  patriot,  or  the  fidelity  of 
a  friend,  show  us,  at  least,  the  firmness  of  a  man. 
For  the  sake  of  your  mistress,  the  lover  shall  be 
spared.  I  will  not  lead  her  into  public,  as  you  have 
done  ;  nor  will  I  insult  the  memory  of  departed 
beauty.  Her  sex,  which  alone  made  her  amiable  in 
your  eyes,  makes  her  respectable  in  mine. 

The  character  of  the  reputed  ancestors  of  some 
men  has  made  it  possible  for  their  descendants  to  be 
vicious  in  the  extreme,  without  being  degenerate. 
Those  of  your  grace,  for  instance,  left  no  distressing 
examples  of  virtue  even  to  their  legitimate  posterity  : 
and  you  may  look  back  with  pleasure  to  an  illustri- 
ous pedigree,  in  which  heraldry  has  not  left  a  single 
good  quality  upon  record  to  insult  or  upbraid  you. 
You  have  better  proofs  of  your  descent,  my  lord,  than 
the  register  of  a  marriage,  or  any  troublesome  in- 
heritance of  reputation.  There  are  some  hereditary 
strokes  of  character,  by  which  a  family  may  be  as 
cl«arlv  distinguished,  as  by  the  blackest  features  of 
D  2  6 


m  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

the  human  face.  Charles  the  First  lived  and  died  a 
hypocrite.  Charles  the  Second  was  a  hypocrite  of 
another  sort,  and  should  have  died  upon  the  same 
scaffold.  At  the  distance  of  a  century,  we  see  their 
different  characters  happily  revived  and  blended  iu 
your  grace.  Sullen  and  severe  without  religion, 
profligate  without  gayety,  you  live  like  Charles  the 
Second,  without  being  an  amiable  companion  ;  and, 
for  aught  I  know,  may  die  as  his  father  did,  without 
the  reputation  of  a  martyr. 

You  had  already  taken  your  degrees  with  credit, 
in  those  schools  in  which  the  English  nobility  are 
formed  to  virtue,  when  you  were  introduced  to 
lord  Chatham's  protection.*  From  Newmarket, 
White's,  and  the  opposition,  he  gave  you  to  the 
world  with  an  air  of  popularity,  which  young  men 
usually  set  out  with,  and  seldom  preserve :  grave 
and  plausible  enough  to  be  thought  fit  for  business ; 
too  young  for  treachery  ;  and,  in  short,  a  patriot  of 
no  unpromising  expectations.  Lord  Chatham  was 
the  earliest  object  of  your  political  wonder  and  at- 
tachment; yet  you  deserted  him,  upon  the  first 
hopes  that  offered  of  an  equal  share  of  power  with 
lord  Rockingham.  When  the  late  duke  of  Cumber- 
land's first  negotiation  failed,  and  when  the  fa- 
vourite was  pushed  to  the  last  extremity,  you  saved 
him,  by  joining  with  an  administration,  in  which 
lord  Chatham  had  refused  to  engage.     Still,  how- 

*  To  understand  these  passages,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  a  noted  pamphlet,  called  '  The  History  of  the  Mi- 
nority.' 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  83 

ever,  lie  was  your  friend  :  and  you  are  yet  to  ex- 
plain to  the  world,  why  you  consented  to  act  with- 
out him  :  or  why,  after  uniting  with  lord  Rocking- 
ham, you  deserted  and  betrayed  him.  You  com- 
plained that  no  measures  were  taken  to  satisfy  your 
patron  j  and  that  your  friend,  Mr.  Wilkes,  who  had 
suffered  so  much  for  the  party,  had  been  abandoned 
to  his  fate.  They  have  since  contributed,  not  a 
little,  to  your  present  plenitude  of  power  ;  yet,  I 
think,  lord  Chatham  has  less  reason  than  ever  to  be 
satisfied :  and,  as  for  Mr.  Wilkes,  it  is,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  misfortune  of  his  life,  that  you  should 
have  so  many  compensations  to  make  in  the  closer, 
for  your  former  friendship  with  him.  Your  gracious 
master  understands  your  character,  and  makes  you 
a  persecutor,  because  you  have  been  a  friend. 

Lord  Chatham  formed  his  last  administration 
upon  principles  which  you  certainly  concurred  in,  or 
you  could  never  have  been  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  treasury.  By  deserting  those  principles,  or  by 
acting  in  direct  contradiction  to  them,  in  which  he 
found  you  were  secretly  supported  in  the  closet, 
you  soon  forced  him  to  leave  you  to  yourself,  and 
to  withdraw  his  name  from  an  administration  which 
had  been  formed  on  the  credit  of  it.  You  had  then 
a  prospect  of  friendships  better  suited  to  your  ge- 
nius, and  more  likely  to  fix  your  disposition.  Mar- 
riage is  the  point  on  which  every  rake  is  stationary 
at  last :  and  truly,  my  lord,  you  may  well  be  weary 
of  the  circuit  you  have  taken  ;  for  you  have  now 
fairly  travelled  through  every  sign  in  the  political 
xodiac,  from  the  scorpion,  in  which  you  stung  lord 


84  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

Chatham,  to  the  hopes  of  a  virgin*  in  the  house  of 
Bloomsbury.  One  would  think  that  you  had  had 
sufficient  experience  of  the  frailty  of  nuptial  en- 
gagements, or,  at  least,  that  such  a  friendship  as 
the  duke  of  Bedford's  might  have  been  secured  to 
you  by  the  auspicious  marriage  of  your  late  duchesst 
with  his  nephew.  But  ties  of  this  tender  nature 
cannot  be  drawn  too  close ;  and  it  may  possibly 
be  a  part  of  the  duke  of  Bedford's  ambition,  after 
making  her  an  honest  woman,  to  work  a  miracle 
of  the  same  sort  upon  your  grace.  This  worthy 
nobleman  has  long  dealt  in  virtue:  there  has  been 
a  large  consumption  of  it  in  his  own  family  ;  and, 
in  the  way  of  traffic,  I  dare  say,  he  has  bought  and 
sold  more  than  half  the  representative  integrity  of  the 
nation. 

In  a  political  view,  this  union  is  not  imprudent, 
The  favour  of  princes  is  a  perishable  commodity. 
You  have  now  a  strength  sufficient  to  command  the 
closet,  and  if  it  be  necessary  to  betray  one  friend- 
ship more,  you  may  set  even  lord  Bute  at  defiance. 
Mr.  Stewart  M'Kenzie  may  possibly  remember  what 
use  the  duke  of  Bedford  usually  makes  of  his  power  y 
and  our  gracious  sovereign,  I  doubt  not,  rejoices  at 
this  first  appearance  of  union  among  his  servants. 
His  late  majesty,  under  the  happy  influence  of  a 
family  connexion    between   his    ministers,    was  re- 


*  His  grace  had  lately  married  miss  Wrottesly,  niece  of 
the  good  Gertrude,  duchess  of  Bedford. 

t  Miss  Liddel,  after  her  divorce  from  the  duke,  married 
lord  Upper  Ossory. 


*    JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  S5 

iieved  from  the  cares  of  the  government.  A  more 
active  prince  may,  perhaps,  observe  with  suspicion 
by  what  degrees  an  artful  servant  grows  upon  his 
master,  from  the  first  unlimited  professions  of  duty 
and  attachment,  to  the  painful  representation  of 
the  necessity  of  the  royal  service,  and  soon,  in  regu- 
lar progression,  to  the  humble  insolence  of  dictating 
in  all  the  obsequious  forms  of  peremptory  submis- 
sion. The  interval  is  carefully  employed  in  forming 
connexions,  creating  interests,  collecting  a  party, 
and  laying  the  foundation  of  double  marriages;  un- 
til the  deluded  prince,  who  thought  he  had  found  a 
creature  prostituted  to  his  service,  and  insignificant 
enough  to  be  always  dependent  upon  his  pleasure, 
finds  him,  at  last,  too  strong  to  be  commanded,  and 
too  formidable  to  be  removed. 

Your  grace's  public  eonduct,  as  a  minister,  is  but 
the  counterpart  of  your  private  history  ;  the  same 
inconsistency,  the  same  contradictions.  In  America 
we  trace  you,  from  the  first  opposition  to  the  stamp 
act,  on  principles  of  convenience,  to  Mr.  Pitt's  sur- 
render of  the  right ;  then  forward  to  lord  Rocking- 
ham's surrender  of  the  fact ;  then  back  again  to 
lord  Rockingham's  declaration  of  the  right ;  then 
forward  to  taxation  with  Mr.  Townshend  ;  and, 
in  the  last  instance,  from  the  gentle  Conway's  un- 
determined discretion,  to  blood  and  compulsion 
with  the  duke  of  Bedford  :  yet,  if  we  may  believe 
the  simplicity  of  lord  North's  eloquence,  at  the 
opening  of  the  next  session,  you  are  once  more  to 
be  the  patron  of  America.  Is  this  the  wisdom  of 
a  fjreat  minister,  or  is  it  the  ominous  vibration  of 
:i  pendulum  ?     Had  you  no  opinion  of  your  own,  my 


$6  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

lord  ?  Or  was  it  the  gratification  of  betraying  every 
party  with  which  you  have  been  united,  and  of  de- 
serting every  political  principle  in  which  you  had 
concurred  ? 

Your  enemies  may  turn  their  eyes  without  regret 
from  this  admirable  system  of  provincial  government. 
They  will  find  gratification  enough  in  the  survey  of 
your  domestic  and  foreign  policy. 

If,  instead  of  disowning  lord  Shelburne,  the 
British  court  had  interposed  with  dignity  and  firm- 
ness, you  know,  my  lord,  that  Corsica  would  never 
have  been  invaded.  The  French  saw  the  weakness 
of  a  distracted  ministry,  and  were  justified  in  treating 
you  with  contempt.  They  would  probably  have 
yielded,  in  the  first  instance,  rather  than  hazard  a 
rupture  with  this  county ;  but,  being  once  engaged, 
they  cannot  retreat  without  dishonour.  Common 
sense  foresees  consequences  which  have  escaped 
your  grace's  penetration.  Either  we  suffer  the 
French  to  make  an  acquisition,  the  importance  of 
which  you  have  probably  no  conception  of  j  or  we 
oppose  them  by  an  underhand  management,  which 
only  disgraces  us  in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  without 
answering  any  purpose  of  policy  or  prudence.  From 
secret,  indirect  assistance,  a  transition  to  some 
more  open,  decisive  measures,  becomes  unavoidable ; 
till,  at  last,  we  find  ourselves  principal  in  the  war, 
and  are  obliged  to  hazard  every  thing  for  an  ob- 
ject, which  might  have  originally  been  obtained 
without  expense  or  danger.  I  am  not  versed  in  the 
politics  of  the  north  j  but  this,  I  believe,  is  certain  j; 
that  half  the  money  you  have  distributed  to  carry 
the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  or  even  your  secreta- 


«^n  e  ] 
cafr 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  8? 

ry's  share  in  the  last  subscription,  would  have  kept 
the  Turks  at  your  devotion.  Was  it  economy,  my 
lord  ?  or  did  the  coy  resistance  you  have  constantly 
met  with  in  the  British  senate  make  you  despair  of 
corrupting  the  divan  ?  Your  friends,  indeed,  have 
£he  first  claim  upon  your  bounty  :  but  if  5001.  a  year 
can^  be  spared  in  pension  to  Sir  John  Moore,  it 
would  not  have  disgraced  you  to  have  allowed  some- 
thing to  the  secret  service  of  the  public. 

You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  the  situation  of  affairs 
at  home  demanded  and  engrossed  the  whole  of  your 
attention.  Here,  I  confess,  you  have  been  active. 
An  amiable,  accomplished  prince,  ascends  the  throne 
under  the  happiest  of  all  auspices,  the  acclamations 
and  united  affections  of  his  subjects.  The  first 
measures  of  his  reign,  and  even  the  odium  of  a  fa- 
vourite, were  not  able  to  shake  their  attachment. 
Your  services,  my  lord,  have  been  more  successful. 
Since  you  were  permitted  to  take  the  lead,  we  have 
seen  the  natural  effects  of  a  system  of  government 
at  once  both  odious  and  contemptible.  We  have 
seen  the  laws  sometimes  scandalously  relaxed,  some- 
times violently  stretched  beyond  their  tone.  We 
have  seen  the  person  of  the  sovereign  insulted ;  and, 
in  profound  peace,  and  with  an  undisputed  title, 
the  fidelity  of  his  subjects  brought  by  his  own  ser- 
vants into  public  question.*     Without  abilities,  reso- 

*  The  wise  duke,  about  this  time,  exerted  all  the  influ- 
ence of  government  to  procure  addresses  to  satisfy  the  kine 
of  the  fidelity  of  lus  subjects.  They  came  in  very  thick 
from  Scotland  ;  but,  after  the  appearance  of  this  letter,  we 
heard  no  more  of  them. 


88  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

lution,  or  interest,  you  have  done  more  than  lord 
Bute  could  accomplish,  with  all  Scotland  at  his 
heels. 

Your  grace,  little  anxious,  perhaps,  either  for 
present  or  future  reputation,  will  not  desire  to  be 
handed  down  in  these  colours  to  posterity.  You 
have  reason  to  flatter  yourself,  that  the  memory  of 
your  administration  will  survive,  even  the  forms  of 
a  constitution,  which  our  ancestors  vainly  hoped 
would  be  immortal ;  and,  as  for  your  personal  char- 
acter, I  will  not,  for  the  honour  of  human  nature, 
suppose  that  you  can  wish  to  have  it  remembered. 
The  condition  of  the  present  times  is  desperate  in- 
deed ;  but  there  is  a  debt  due  to  those  who  come 
after  us  ;  and  it  is  the  historian's  office  to  punish, 
though  he  cannot  correct.  I  do  not  give  you  to 
posterity  as  a  pattern  to  imitate,  but  as  an  example 
to  deter  j  and  as  your  conduct  comprehends  every 
thing  that  a  wise  or  honest  minister  should  avoid,  I 
mean  to  make  you  a  negative  instruction  to  your 
successors  for  ever. 

JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  8$ 


XIII. 

Addressed  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser* 

SIR,  June  12,  1769. 

The  duke  of  Grafton's  friends,  not  finding  it  con- 
venient to  enter  into  a  contest  with  Junius,  are 
now  reduced  to  the  last  melancholy  resource  of  de- 
feated argument,  the  flat  general  charge  of  scur- 
rility and  falsehood.  As  for  his  style,  I  shall  leave 
it  to  the  critics.  The  truth  of  his  facts  is  of  more 
importance  to  the  public.  They  are  of  such  a  na- 
ture, that  I  think  a  bare  contradiction  will  have  no 
weight  with  any  man  who  judges  for  himself.  Let 
us  take  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  appear  in 
his  last  letter. 

1.  Have  not  the  first  rights  of  the  people,  and  the 
first  principles  of  the  constitution,  been  openly  in- 
vaded, and  the  very  name  of  an  election  made 
ridiculous,  by  the  arbitrary  appointment  of  Mr. 
Luttrell  ? 

2.  Did  not  the  duke  of  Grafton  frequently  lead 
his  mistress  into  public,  and  even  place  her  at  the 
head  of  his  table,  as  if  he  had  pulled  down  an  an- 
cient temple  of  Venus,  and  could  bury  all  decencx 
and  shame  under  the  ruins  ?  Is  this  the  man  who 
dares  to  talk  of  Mr.  Wilkes's  morals  ? 

3.  Is  not  the  character  of  his  presumptive  ances- 
tors as  strongly  marked  in  him,  as  if  he  had  de-- 
scended  from  them  in  a  direct  legitimate  line  ?     The 


§0  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS 

idea  of  his  death  is  only  prophetic ;   and  what  is 
prophecy  but  a  narrative  preceding  the  fact  ? 

4.  Was  not  lord  Chatham  the  first  who  raised  him 
to  the  rank  and  post  of  a  minister,  and  the  first 
whom  he  abandoned  ? 

5.  Did  he  not  join  with  lord  Rockingham,  and 
betray  him  ? 

6.  Was  he  not  the  bosom  friend  of  Mr.  Wilkes, 
whom  he  now  pursues  to  destruction  ? 

7.  Did  he  not  take  his  degrees  with  credit  at 
Newmarket,  White's,  and  the  opposition  ? 

8.  After  deserting  lord  Chatham's  principles,  and 
sacrificing  his  friendship,  is  he  not  now  closely 
united  with  a  set  of  men,  who,  though  they  have 
occasionally  joined  with  all  parties,  have,  in  every 
different  situation,  and  at  all  times,  been  equally  and 
constantly  detested  by  this  country  ? 

9.  Has  not  sir  John  Moore  a  pension  of  five 
hundred  pounds  a  year  ?  This  may  probably  be  an, 
acquittance  of  favours  upon  the  turf:  but  is  it  pos- 
sible for  a  minister  to  offer  a  grosser  outrage  to  a 
nation,  which  has  so  very  lately  cleared  away  the 
beggary  of  the  civil  list,  at  the  expense  of  more  than 
half  a  million  ? 

10.  Is  there  any  one  mode  of  thinking  or  acting 
with  respect  to  America,  which  the  duke  of  Grafton 
has  not  successively  adopted  and  abandoned  ? 

11.  Is  there  not  a  singular  mark  of  shame  set 
upon  this  man,  who  has  so  little  delicacy  and  feel- 
ing, as  to  submit  to  the  opprobrium  of  marrying  a 
near  relation  of  one  who  had  debauched  his  wife  ? 
In  the  name  of  decency,  how  are  these  amiable 
cousins  to  meet  at  their  uncle's  table  ?     It  will  be  a 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  $i 

Scene  in  CEdipus,  without  the  distress.  Is  it  wealth, 
«r  wit,  or  beauty  ?  Or  is  the  amorous  youth  in 
love  ? 

The  rest  is  notorious.  That  Corsica  has  been  sa- 
crificed to  the  French ;  that,  in  some  instances,  the 
laws  have  been  scandalously  relaxed,  and,  in  others, 
daringly  violated  ;  and  that  the  king's  subjects  have 
been  called  upon  to  assure  him  of  their  fidelity,  in 
spite  of  the  measures  of  his  servants. 

A  writer,  who  builds  his  arguments  upon  facts 
such  as  these,  is  not  easily  to  be  confuted.  He  is  not 
to  be  answered  by  general  assertions  or  general  re- 
proaches. He  may  want  eloquence  to  amuse  and 
persuade  ;  but,  speaking  truth,  he  must  always 
convince. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XIV. 

Addressed  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  June  22,  1769.' 

The  name  of  Old  Noll  is  destined  to  be  the  ruin 
of  the  house  of  Stuart.  There  is  an  ominous  fatality 
in  it,  which  even  the  spurious  descendants  of  the 
family  cannot  escape.  Oliver  Cromwell  had  the 
merit  of  conducting  Charles  the  First  to  the  block. 
Your  correspondent,  Old  Noll,  appears  to  have  the 
same  design  upon  the  duke  of  Grafton.  His  argu- 
ments consist  better  with  the  title  he  has  assumed, 
than  with  the  principles  he  professes  :    for   though 


02  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS/ 

he  pretends  to  be  an  advocate  for  the  duke,  he 
takes  care  to  give  us  the  best  reason  why  his  patron 
should  regularly  follow  the  fate  of  his  presumptive 
ancestor.  Through  the  whole  course  of  the  duke 
of  Grafton's  life,  I  see  a  strange  endeavour  to  unite 
contradictions  which  cannot  be  reconciled.  He 
marries,  to  be  divorced  ;  he  keeps  a  mistress,  to 
remind  him  of  conjugal  endearments  ;  and  he  chooses 
such  friends  as  it  is  a  virtue  in  him  to  desert. 
If  it  were  possible  for  the  genius  of  that  accomplish- 
ed president,  who  pronounced  sentence  upon  Charles 
the  First,  to  be  revived  in  some  modern  sycophant,* 
his  grace,  I  doubt  not,  would  by  sympathy  discover 
him  among  the  dregs  of  mankind,  and  take  him  for 
a  guide  in  those  paths  which  naturally  conduct  a. 
minister  to  the  scaffold. 

The  assertion  that  two-thirds  of  the  nation  ap- 
prove of  the  acceptance  of  Mr.  Luttrell  (for  even 
Old  Noll  is  too  modest  to  call  it  an  election)  can 
neither  be  maintained  nor  confuted  by  argument. 
It  is  a  point  of  fact,  on  which  every  English  gentle- 
man will  determine  for  himself.  As  to  lawyers, 
their  profession  is  supported  by  the  indiscriminate 
defence  of  right  and  wrong  j  and  I  confess  I  have 
not  that  opinion  of  their  knowledge  or  integrity,  to 
think  it  necessary  that  they  should  decide  for  me 
upon  a  plain  constitutional  question.  With  respect 
to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Luttrell,  the  chancellor 
has   never    yet   given    any  authentic  opinion.     Sir 


*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  name 
oi  Bradshaw, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  93 

Fletcher  Norton  is,  indeed,  an  honest,  a  very  honest 
man ;  and  the  attorney-general  is  ex  officio  the  guar- 
dian of  liberty  ;  to  take  care,  I  presume,  that  it  shalj 
never  break  out  into  a  criminal  excess.  Doctor 
Blackstone  is  solicitor  to  the  queen.  The  doctor 
recollected  that  he  had  a  place  to  preserve,  though 
he  forgot  that  he  had  a  reputation  to  lose.  We  have 
now  the  good  fortune  to  understand  the  doctor's 
principles  as  well  as  writings.  For  the  defence  of 
truth,  of  law,  and  reason,  the  doctor's  book  may  be 
safely  consulted ;  but  whoever  wishes  to  cheat  a 
neighbour  of  his  estate,  or  to  rob  a  country  of  its  rights, 
need  make  no  scruple  of  consulting  the  doctor  himself. 
The  example  of  the  English  nobility  may,  for 
aught  I  know,  sufficiently  justify  the  duke  of  Graf- 
ton, when  he  indulges  his  genius  in  all  the  fashion- 
able excesses  of  the  age  ;  yet,  considering  his  rank 
and  station,  I  think  it  would  do  him  more  honour 
to  be  able  to  deny  the  fact,  than  to  defend  it  by 
such  authorit\*.  But  if  vice  itself  could  be  excused. 
there  is  yet  a  certain  display  of  it,  a  certain  outrage 
to  decency,  and  violation  of  public  decorum,  which, 
for  the  benefit  of  society,  should  never  be  forgiven. 
It  is  not  that  he  kept  a  mistress  at  home,  but  that 
he  constantly  attended  her  abroad.  It  is  not  the 
private  indulgence,  but  the  public  insult,  of  which 
I  complain.  The  name  of  miss  Parsons  would  hardly 
have  been  known,  if  the  first  lord  of  the  treasury 
had  not  led  her  in  triumph  through  the  opera-house, 
even  in  the  presence  of  the  queen.  When  we  see  a 
man  act  in  this  manner,  we  may  admit  the  shame- 
less depravity  of  his  heart ;  but  what  are  we  to  think 
of  his  understanding  ? 


94  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

His  grace,  it  seems,  is  now  to  be  a  regular,  do- 
mestic man  ;  and,  as  an  omen  of  the  future  delicacy 
and  correctness  of  his  conduct,  he  marries  a  first 
cousin  of  the  man  who  had  fixed  that  mark  and 
title  of  infamy  upon  him,  which,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, makes  a  husband  unhappy  and  ridiculous. 
The  ties  of  consanguinity  may  possibly  preserve 
him  from  the  same  fate  a  second  time  j  and  as  to 
the  distress  of  meeting,  I  take  for  granted,  the  ven- 
erable uncle  of  these  common  cousins  has  settled 
the  etiquette  in  such  a  manner,  that,  if  a  mistake 
.should  happen,  it  may  reach  no  farther  than  from 
madame  ma  femme  to  madame  ma  cousine. 

The  duke  of  Grafton  has  always  some  excellent 
reason  for  deserting  his  friends  :  the  age  and  inca- 
pacity of  lord  Chatham,  the  debility  of  lord  Rock- 
ingham, or  the  infamy  of  Mr.  Wilkes.  There  was 
a  time,  indeed,  when  he  did  not  appear  to  be  quite 
as  well  acquainted,  or  so  violently  offended,  with 
the  infirmities  of  his  friends :  but  now  I  confess 
they  are  not  ill  exchanged  for  the  youthful,  vigorous 
virtue  of  the  duke  of  Bedford ;  the  firmness  of 
general  Conway  ;  the  blunt,  or,  if  I  may  call  it,  the 
awkward  integrity  of  Mr.  Rigby  ;  and  the  spotless 
morality  of  lord  Sandwich. 

If  a  late  pension  to  a  broken  gambler*  be  an  act 
worthy  of  commendation,  the  duke  of  Grafton's 
connexions  will  furnish  him  with  man}'  opportunities 
of  doing  praiseworthy  actions ;  and  as  he  himself 
bears  no  part  of  the  expense,  the  generosity  of  distri- 
buting the  public  money  for  the  support  of  virtuous 

*  Sir  John  Moore. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  95 

families  in  distress,  will  be  an  unquestionable  proo. 
of  his  grace's  humanity. 

As  to  public  affairs,    Old  Noll  is  a  little  tender  o. 
descending  to  particulars.     He  does   not  deny  that 
Corsica  has  been  sacrificed  to  France  ;  and  he  con- 
fesses  that,    with    regard    to  America,   his   patron's 
measures  have  been  subject  to   some  variation  :  but 
then  he  promises  wonders  of  stability  and  firmness 
for  the  future.     These  are   mysteries,  of  which  we 
must   not   pretend    to  judge   by   experience  ;    and, 
truly,  I  fear  we  shall  perish  in  the  desert,  before  we 
arrive  at  the  land  of  promise.     In  the  regular  course 
of  things,  the  period  of  the  duke  of  Grafton's  minis- 
terial manhood  should  now  be  approaching.     The 
imbecility  of  his   infant  state  was  committed  to  lord 
Chatham.     Charles  Townshend  took  some  care  of 
his  education  at  that  ambiguous  age,   which  lies  be- 
tween the  follies  of  political  childhood  and  the  vices 
of  puberty.     The  empire  of  the  passions  soon  suc- 
ceeded.    His  earliest  principles  and  connexions  were 
of  course  forgotten   or   despised.     The  company  he 
lias  lately  kept  has  been  of  no  service  to  his  morals  ; 
and,   in  the  conduct  of  public   affairs,   we   see   the 
character  of  his  time  of  life  strongly  distinguished. 
An  obstinate,   ungovernable    self-sufficiency  plainly 
points  out  to  us  that  state  of  imperfect  maturity  at 
which  the  graceful  levity  of  youth  is  lost,  and  the 
solidity  of  experience  not  yet  acquired.     It  is  pos- 
sible the  young  man  may,   in  time,  grow  wiser,  and 
reform  ;  but  if  I  understand  his  disposition,  it  is  not 
of  such  corrigible  stuff  that  we  should  hope  for  any 
amendment  in  him,  before  he  has  accomplished  the 


96  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

destruction  of  his  country.  Like  other  rakes,  he 
may,  perhaps,  live  to  see  his  error,  but  not  until  he 
has  ruined  his  estate. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XV. 

To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  July  8,  1769 

If  nature  had  given  you  an  understanding  quali- 
fied to  keep  pace  with  the  wishes  and  principles  of 
your  heart,  she  would  have  made  you,  perhaps,  the 
most  formidable  minister  that  ever  was  employed, 
under  a  limited  monarch,  to  accomplish  the  ruin 
of  a  free  people.  When  neither  the  feelings  of 
shame,  the  reproaches  of  conscience,  nor  the  dread 
of  punishment,  form  any  bar  to  the  designs  of  a 
minister,  the  people  would  have  too  much  reason 
to  lament  their  condition,  if  they  did  not  find  some 
resource  in  the  weakness  of  his  understanding.  We 
owe  it  to  the  bounty  of  Providence,  that  the  com- 
pletest  depravity  of  the  heart  is  sometimes  strangely 
united  with  a  confusion  of  the  mind,  which  coun- 
teracts the  most  favourite  principles,  and  makes  the 
same  man  treacherous  without  art,  and  a  hypocrite 
without  deceiving.  The  measures,  for  instance,  in 
which  your  grace's  activity  has  been  chiefly  exerted, 
as  they  were  adopted  without  skill,  should  have 
been  conducted  with  more  than  common  dexterity. 
But  truly,  my  lord,  the  execution  has  been  as  gross 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  97 

as  the  design.  By  one  decisive  step  you  have  de- 
feated all  the  arts  of  writing.  You  have  fairly  con- 
founded the  intrigues  of  opposition,  and  silenced 
the  clamours  of  faction.  A  dark,  ambiguous  system 
might  require  and  furnish  the  materials  of  inge- 
nious illustration ;  and,  in  doubtful  measures,  the 
virulent  exaggeration  of  party  must  be  employed  to 
rouse  and  engage  the  passions  of  the  people.  You 
have  now  brought  the  merits  of  your  administration 
to  an  issue,  on  which  every  Englishman,  of  the  nar- 
rowest capacity,  may  determine  for  himself:  it  is 
not  an  alarm  to  the  passions,  but  a  calm  appeal  to 
the  judgment  of  the  people,  upon  their  own  most 
essential  interests.  A  more  experienced  minister 
would  not  have  hazarded  a  direct  invasion  of  the 
first  principles  of  the  constitution,  before  he  had 
made  some  progress  in  subduing  the  spirit  of  the 
people.  With  such  a  cause  as  yours,  my  lord,  it  is 
not  sufficient  that  you  have  the  court  at  your  devo- 
tion, unless  you  can  find  means  to  corrupt  or  intimi- 
date the  jury.  The  collective  body  of  the  people 
form  that  jury,  and  from  their  decision  there  is  but 
one  appeal. 

Whether  you  have  talents  to  support  you,  at  a 
crisis  of  such  difficulty  and  danger,  should  long 
since  have  been  considered.  Judging  truly  of  your 
disposition,  you  have,  perhaps,  mistaken  the  extent 
of  your  capacity.  Good  faith  and  folly  have  so  long 
been  received  as  synonymous  terms,  that  the  reverse 
of  the  proposition  has  grown  into  credit,  and  every 
villain  fancies  himself  a  man  of  abilities.  It  is  the 
apprehension   of  your    friends,   my  lord,    that  you 

have  drawn  some  hasty  conclusion  of  this  sort,  and 
vol.  x.  E  7 


98  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

that  a  partial  reliance  upon  your  moral  character  has 
betrayed  you  beyond  the  depth  of  your  understand- 
ing. You  have  now  carried  things  too  far  to  retreat. 
You  have  plainly  declared  to  the  people  what  they 
are  to  expect  from  the  continuance  of  your  adminis- 
tration. It  is  time  for  your  grace  to  consider  what 
you  also  may  expect  in  return  from  their  spirit  and 
their  resentment. 

Since  the  accession  of  our  most  gracious  sovereign 
to  the  throne,  we  have  seen  a  system  of  government 
which  may  well  be  called  a  reign  of  experiments. 
Parties  of  all  denominations  have  been  employed  and 
dismissed.  The  advice  of  the  ablest  men  in  this 
country  has  been  repeatedly  called  for,  and  rejected  ; 
and  when  the  royal  displeasure  has  been  signified  to 
a  minister,  the  marks  of  it  have  usually  been  propor- 
tioned to  his  abilities  and  integrity.  The  spirit  of 
the  favourite  had  some  apparent  influence  upon 
every  administration  ;  and  every  set  of  ministers 
preserved  an  appearance  of  duration  as  long  as  they 
submitted  to  that  influence.  But  there  were  certain 
services  to  be  performed  for  the  favourite's  security, 
or  to  gratify  his  resentments,  which  your  predeces- 
sors in  office  had  the  wisdom  or  the  virtue  not  to 
undertake.  The  moment  this  refractory  spirit  was 
discovered,  their  disgrace  was  determined.  Lord 
Chatham,  Mr.  Grenville,  and  lord  Rockingham, 
have  successively  had  the  honour  to  be  dismissed  for 
preferring  their  duty  as  servants  of  the  public  to 
those  compliances  which  were  expected  from  their 
station.  A  submissive  administration  was  at  last 
gradually  collected  from  the  deserters  of  all  parties^ 
interests,    and   connexions ;    and   nothing  remained 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  99 

but  to  find  a  leader  for  these  gallant,  well-disciplined 
troops.  Stand  forth,  my  lord  ;  for  thou  art  the  man. 
Lord  Bute  found  no  resource  of  dependence  or  secu- 
rity in  the  proud,  imposing  superiority  of  lord  Chat- 
ham's abilities  ;  the  shrewd,  inflexible  judgment  of 
Mr.  Grenville  ;  nor  in  the  mild  but  determined  in- 
tegrity of  lord  Rockingham.  His  views  and  situation 
required  a  creature  void  of  all  these  properties  ;  and 
he  was  forced  to  go  through  every  division,  resolu- 
tion, composition,  and  refinement  of  political  chemis- 
try, before  he  happily  arrived  at  the  caput  mortuum 
of  vitriol  in  your  grace.  Flat  and  insipid  in  your 
retired  state  ;  but,  brought  into  action,  you  become 
vitriol  again.  Such  are  the  extremes  of  alternate 
indolence  or  fury,  which  have  governed  your  whole 
administration.  Your  circumstances,  with  regard 
to  the  people,  soon  becoming  desperate,  like  other 
honest  servants,  you  determined  to  involve  the 
best  of  masters  in  the  same  difficulties  with  yourself. 
We  owe  it  to  your  grace's  well-directed  labours, 
that  your  sovereign  has  been  persuaded  to  doubt 
of  the  affections  of  his  subjects,  and  the  people  to 
suspect  the  virtues  of  their  sovereign,  at  a  time  when 
both  were  unquestionable.  You  have  degraded  the 
royal  dignity  into  a  base  and  dishonourable  compe- 
tition with  Mr.  Wilkes  :  nor  had  you  abilities  to 
carry  even  the  last  contemptible  triumph  over  a 
private  man,  without  the  grossest  violation  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  constitution  and  rights  of 
the  people.  But  these  are  rights,  my  lord,  which 
you  can  no  more  annihilate,  than  you  can  the  soil 
to  which  they  are  annexed.  The  question  no  longer 
turns  upon  points   of  national  honour  and  security 


100  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

abroad,  or  on  the  degrees  of  expedience  and  propri- 
ety of  measures  at;  home.  It  was  not  inconsistent 
that  you  should  abandon  the  cause  of  liberty,  in 
another  country,  which  you  had  persecuted  in  your 
own  :  and,  in  the  common  arts  of  domestic  corrup- 
tion, we  miss  no  part  of  sir  Robert  Walpole's  system. 
except  his  abilities.  In  this  humble,  imitative  line, 
you  might  long  have  proceeded  safe  and  contempt- 
ible. You  might  probably  never  have  risen  to  the 
dignity  of  being  hated,  and  even  have  been  despised 
with  moderation.  But  it  seems  vou  meant  to  be  dis- 
tinguished  ;  and,  to  a  mind  like  yours,  there  was  no 
other  road  to  fame  but  by  the  destruction  of  a  noble 
fabric,  which  you  thought  had  been  too  long  the 
admiration  of  mankind.  The  use  you  have  made 
of  the  military  force  introduced  an  alarming  change 
in  the  mode  of  executing  the  laws.  The  arbitrary 
appointment  of  Mr.  Luttrell  invades  the  foundation 
of  the  laws  themselves,  as  it  manifestly  transfers 
the  right  of  legislation  from  those  whom  the  people 
have  chosen,  to  those  whom  they  have  rejected. 
With  a  succession  of  such  appointments,  we  may 
soon  see  a  house  of  commons  collected,  in  the  choice 
of  which  the  other  towns  and  counties  of  England 
will  have  as  little  share  as  the  devoted  county  of 
Middlesex. 

Yet  I  trust  your  grace  will  find  that  the  people  of 
this  country  are  neither  to  be  intimidated  by  violent 
measures,  nor  deceived  by  refinements.  When  they 
see  Mr.  Luttrell  seated  in  the  house  of  commons, 
by  mere  dint  of  power,  and  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  choice  of  a  whole  county,  they  will  not  listen  to 
those   subtilties    by  which  every  arbitrary  exertion 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  101 

of  authority  is  explained  into  the  law  and  privilege 
of  parliament.  It  requires  no  persuasion  of  argu- 
ment, but  simply  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  to  con- 
vince them,  that,  to  transfer  the  right  of  election 
from  the  collective  to  the  representative  body  of 
the  people,  contradicts  all  those  ideas  of  a  house  of 
commons  which  they  have  received  from  their  fore- 
fathers, and  which  they  had  already,  though  vainly, 
perhaps,  delivered  to  their  children.  The  principles 
on  which  this  violent  measure  has  been  defended 
have  added  scorn  to  injury,  and  forced  us  to  feel 
that  we  are  not  only  oppressed,  but  insulted. 

With  what  force,  my  lord,  with  what  protection, 
are  you  prepared  to  meet  the  united  detestation  of 
the  people  of  England  ?  The  city  of  London  has 
given  a  generous  example  to  the  kingdom,  in  what 
manner  a  king  of  this  country  ought  to  be  ad- 
dressed :  and  I  fancy,  my  lord,  it  is  not  yet  in 
your  courage  to  stand  between  your  sovereign  and 
the  addresses  of  his  subjects.  The  injuries  you 
have  done  this  country  are  such  as  demand  not 
only  redress,  but  vengeance.  In  vain  shall  you 
look  for  protection  to  that  venal  vote  which  you 
have  already  paid  for :  another  must  be  purchased  ; 
and,  to  save  a  minister,  the  house  of  commons 
must  declare  themselves  not  only  independent  of 
their  constituents,  but  the  determined  enemies  of 
the  constitution.  Consider,  my  lord,  whether  this 
be  an  extremity  to  which  their  fears  will  permit 
them  to  advance  :  or,  if  their  protection  should 
fail  you,  how  far  you  are  authorised  to  rely  upon 
the  sincerity  of  those  smiles,  which  a  pious  court 
lavishes  without  reluctance  upon  a  libertine  by  pro- 


102  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

fession.  It  is  not,  indeed,  the  least  of  the  thousand 
contradictions  which  attend  you,  that  a  man,  marked 
to  the  world  by  the  grossest  violation  of  all  cere- 
mony and  decorum,  should  be  the  first  servant  of  a 
court,  in  which  prayers  are  morality,  and  kneeling  is 
religion. 

Trust  not  too  far  to  appearances,  by  which  your 
predecessors  have  been  deceived,  though  they  have 
not  been  injured.  Even  the  best  of  princes  may  at 
last  discover,  that  this  is  a  contention  in  which 
every  thing  may  be  lost,  but  nothing  can  be  gained  : 
and,  as  you  became  minister  by  accident,  were 
adopted  without  choice,  trusted  without  confidence, 
and  continued  without  favour,  be  assured,  that 
whenever  an  occasion  presses,  you  will  be  discarded 
without  even  the  forms  of  regret.  You  will  then 
have  reason  to  be  thankful,  if  you  are  permitted  to 
retire  to  that  seat  of  learning,  which,  in  contem- 
plation of  the  system  of  your  life,  the  comparative 
purity  of  your  manners  with  those  of  their  high 
steward,  and  a  thousand  other  recommending  cir- 
cumstances, has  chosen  you  to  encourage  the  grow- 
ing virtue  of  their  youth,  and  to  preside  over  their 
education.  Whenever  the  spirit  of  distributing 
prebends  and  bishoprics  shall  have  departed  from 
you,  you  will  find  that  learned  seminary  perfectly 
recovered  from  the  delirium  of  an  installation,  and, 
what  in  truth  it  ought  to  be,  once  more  a  peaceful 
scene  of  slumber  and  thoughtless  meditation.  The 
venerable  tutors  of  the  university  will  no  longer 
distress  your  modesty,  by  proposing  you  for  ja  pat- 
tern to  their  pupils.  The  learned  dulness  of  dec- 
lamation will  be  silent  j  and  even  the  venal  muse, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  103 

though  happiest  in  fiction,  will  forget  your  virtues. 
Yet,  for  the  benefit  of  the  succeeding  age,  I  could 
wish  that  your  retreat  might  be  deferred  until  your 
morals  shall  happily  be  ripened  to  that  maturity  of- 
corruption,  at  which  the  worst  examples  cease  to  be 
contagious. 

JUNIUS. 


XVI. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  July  19,  1769. 

A  great  deal  of  useless  argument  might  have 
been  saved,  in  the  political  contest  which  has  arisen 
(torn  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  the  subse- 
quent appointment  of  Mr.  Luttrell,  if  the  question 
had  been  once  stated  with  precision,  to  the  satis- 
faction of  each  party,  and  clearly  understood  by 
them  both.  But  in  this,  as  in  almost  every  other 
dispute,  it  usually  happens  that  much  time  is  lost 
in  referring  to  a  multitude  of  cases  and  precedents, 
which  prove  nothing  to  the  purpose  ;  or  in  main- 
taining propositions,  which  are  either  not  disputed, 
or,  whether  they  be  admitted  or  denied,  are  entirely 
indifferent  as  to  the  matter  in  debate  ;  until  at  last, 
the  mind,  perplexed  and  confounded  with  the  end- 
less subtilties  of  controversy,  loses  sight  of  the  main 
question,  and  never  arrives  at  truth.  Both  parties 
in  the  dispute  are  apt  enough  to  practise  these  (lis- 


104  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

honest  artifices.  The  man  who  is  conscious  of  the 
weakness  of  his  cause  is  interested  in  concealing  it  : 
and,  on  the  other  side,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a 
good  cause  mangled  by  advocates,  who  do  not  know 
the  real  strength  of  it. 

I  should  be  glad  to  know,  for  instance,  to  what 
purpose,  in  the  present  case,  so  many  precedents 
have  been  produced,  to  prove  that  the  house  of 
commons  have  a  right  to  expel  one  of  their  own 
members  ;  that  it  belongs  to  them  to  judge  of  the 
validity  of  elections  ;  or  that  the  law  of  parliament 
is  part  of  the  law  of  the  land  ?*  After  all  these 
propositions  are  admitted,  Mr.  Luttrell's  right  to 
his  seat  will  continue  to  be  just  as  disputable  as  it 
was  before.  Not  one  of  them  is  at  present  in  agita- 
tion. Let  it  be  admitted  that  the  house  of  com- 
mons were  authorised  to  expel  Mr.  Wilkes,  that  they 
are  the  proper  court  to  judge  of  elections,  and  that 
the  law  of  parliament  is  binding  upon  the  people  ; 
still  it  remains  to  be  inquired,  whether  the  house, 
by  their  resolution  in  favour  of  Mr.  Luttrell,  have, 
or  have  not,  truly  declared  that  law.  To  facilitate 
this  inquiry,  I  would  have  the  question  cleared  of 
all  foreign  or  indifferent  matter.  The  following 
state  of  it  will  probably  be  thought  a  fair  one  by 
both  parties  ;  and  then  I  imagine  there  is  no  gen- 
tleman in  this  country  who  will  not  be  capable  of 
forming  a  judicious  and  true  opinion  upon  it.     I 


*  The  reader  will  observe,  that  these  admissions  are  made, 
not  as  of  truths  unquestionable,  but  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, and  in  order  to  bring  the  real  question  to  issue. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  105 

take  the  question  to  be  strictly  this :  "  Whether  cl- 
no  it  be  the  known,  established  law  of  parliament, 
that  the  expulsion  of  a  member  of  the  house  of 
commons,  of  itself  creates  in  him  such  an  incapacity 
to  be  re-elected,  that,  at  a  subsequent  election,  any 
votes  given  to  him  are  null  and  void  ;  and  that  any 
other  candidate,  who,  except  the  person  expelled, 
iias  the  greatest  number  of  votes,  ought  to  be  the 
sitting  member." 

To  prove  that  the  affirmative  is  the  law  of  par- 
liament, I  apprehend  it  is  not  sufficient  for  the  pre- 
sent house  of  commons  to  declare  it  to  be  so.  We 
may  shut  our  eyes,  indeed,  to  the  dangerous  conse- 
quences of  suffering  one  branch  of  the  legislature 
to  declare  new  laws  without  argument  or  example  ; 
and  it  may,  perhaps,  be  prudent  enough  to  submit 
to  authority ;  but  a  mere  assertion  will  never  con- 
vince, much  less  will  it  be  thought  reasonable  to 
prove  the  right  by  the  fact  itself.  The  ministry 
hare  not  yet  pretended  to  such  a  tyranny  over  our 
minds.  To  support  the  affirmative  fairly,  it  will 
either  be  necessary  to  produce  some  statute,  in 
which  that  positive  provision  shall  have  been  made, 
that  specific  disability  clearly  created,  and  the  con- 
sequences of  it  declared  ;  or,  if  there  be  no  such 
statute,  the  custom  of  parliament  must  then  be  re- 
ferred to ;  and  some  case  or  cases,*  strictly  in  point, 
must  be  produced,  with  the  decision   of  the  court 


*    Precedents,   in  opposition  to  principles,  have  little- 

ight  with  Junius  ;  but  he  thought  it  necessary  to  meet 

the  ministry  upon  their  own  ground. 

E  2 


we 


106  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

upon  them ;  for  I  readily  admit,  that  the  custom  of 
parliament,  once  clearly  proved,  is  equally  binding 
with  the  common  and  statute  law. 

The  consideration  of  what  may  be  reasonable  or 
unreasonable,  makes  no  part  of  this  question.  We 
are  inquiring  what  the  law  is,  not  what  it  ought  to 
be.  Reason  may  be  applied  to  show  the  impro- 
priety or  expediency  of  a  law ;  but  we  must  have 
either  statute  or  precedent  to  prove  the  existence 
of  it.  At  the  same  time,  I  do  not  mean  to  admit 
that  the  late  resolution  of  the  house  of  commons  is 
defensible  on  general  principles  of  reason,  any  more 
than  in  law.  This  is  not  the  hinge  on  which  the 
debate  turns. 

Supposing,  therefore,  that  I  have  laid  down  an 
accurate  state  of  the  question,  I  will  venture  to 
affirm,  1st,  That  there  is  no  statute  existing,  by 
which  that  specific  disability  which  we  speak  of  is 
created.  If  there  be,  let  it  be  produced.  The  ar- 
gument will  then  be  at  an  end. 

2dly,  That  there  is  no  precedent,  in  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  house  of  commons,  which  comes 
entirely  home  to  the  present  case,  viz.  "  Where  an 
expelled  member  has  been  returned  again,  and 
another  candidate,  with  an  inferior  number  of  votes, 
has  been  declared  the  sitting  member."  If  there  be 
such  a  precedent,  let  it  be  given  to  us  plainly ;  and 
I  am  sure  it  will  have  more  weight  than  all  the 
cunning  arguments  which  have  been  drawn  from  in 
ferences  and  probabilities. 

The  ministry,  in  that  laborious  pamphlet,  which, 
I  presume,  contains  the  whole  strength  of  the  party, 
have  declared,  "  That  Mr.  Walpole's  was  the  first 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  107 

and  only  instance  in  which  the  electors  of  any 
county  or  borough  had  returned  a  person  expelled 
to  serve  in  the  same  parliament."  It  is  not  possible 
to  conceive  a  case  more  exactly  in  point.  Mr.  Wal- 
pole  was  expelled  ;  and,  having  a  majority  of  votes 
at  the  next  election,  was  returned  again.  The 
friends  of  Mr.  Taylor,  a  candidate  set  up  by  the 
ministry,  petitioned  the  house  that  he  might  be 
the  sitting  member.  Thus  far  the  circumstances 
tally  exactly,  except  that  our  house  of  commons 
saved  Mr.  Luttrell  the  trouble  of  petitioning.  The 
poiut  of  law,  however,  was  the  same.  It  came 
regularly  before  the  house,  and  it  was  their  busi- 
ness to  determine  upon  it.  They  did  determine  it ; 
for  they  declared  Mr.  Taylor  not  duly  elected.  If 
it  be  said,  that  they  meant  this  resolution  as  matter 
of  favour  and  indulgence  to  the  borough,  which  had 
retorted  Mr.  Walpole  upon  them,  iu  order  that  the 
burgesses,  knowing  what  the  law  was,  might  correct 
their  error,  I  answer, 

I.  That  it  is  a  strange  way  of  arguing,  to  oppose 
a  supposition,  which  no  man  can  prove,  to  a  fact 
which  proves  itself. 

II.  That  if  this  were  the  intention  of  the  house 
of  commons,  it  must  have  defeated  itself.  The 
burgesses  of  Lynn  could  never  have  known  their 
error,  much  less  could  they  have  corrected  it  by 
any  instruction  they  received  from  the  proceedings 
of  the  house  of  commons.  They  might,  perhaps, 
have  foreseen,  that  if  they  returned  Mr.  Walpole 
again,  he  would  again  be  rejected  ;  but  they  never 
could  infer,  from  a  resolution  by  which  the  can- 
«iidate  with  the  fewest  votes  was  declared  not  duly 


108  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

elected,  that,  at  a  future  election,  and  in  similar 
circumstances,  the  house  of  commons  would  re- 
verse their  resolution,  and  receive  the  same  can- 
didate as  duly  elected,  whom  they  had  before  re- 
jected. 

This,  indeed,  would  have  been  a  most  extraordi- 
nary way  of  declaring  the  law  of  parliament,  and 
what,  I  presume,  no  man,  whose  understanding  is 
not  at  cross  purposes  with  itself,  could  possibly  un- 
derstand. 

If,  in  a  case  of  this  importance,  I  thought  myself 
at  liberty  to  argue  from  suppositions  rather  than 
from  facts,  I  think  the  probability,  in  this  instance, 
is  directly  the  reverse  of  what  the  ministry  affirm  ; 
and  that  it  is  much  more  likely  that  the  house  of 
commons,  at  that  time,  would  rather  have  strained 
a  point  in  favour  of  Mr.  Taylor,  than  that  they 
would  have  violated  the  law  of  parliament,  and 
robbed  Mr.  Taylor  of  a  right  legally  vested  in  him, 
to  gratify  a  refractory  borough,  which,  in  defiance 
of  them,  had  returned  a  person  branded  with  the 
strongest  mark  of  the  displeasure  of  the  house. 

But  really,  sir,  this  way  of  talking  (for  I  cannot 
call  it  argument)  is  a  mockery  of  the  common  un- 
derstanding of  the  nation,  too  gross  to  be  endured. 
Our  dearest  interests  are  at  stake.  An  attempt  has 
been  made,  not  merely  to  rob  a  single  county  of  its 
rights,  but,  by  inevitable  consequence,  to  alter  the 
constitution  of  the  house  of  commons.  This  fatal 
attempt  has  succeeded,  and  stands  as  a  precedent 
recorded  for  ever.  If  the  ministry  are  unable  to 
defend  their  cause  by  fair  argument,  founded  on 
facts,  let  them  spare  us,  at  least,  the  mortification 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  109 

of  being  amused  and  deluded,  like  children.  I  be- 
lieve there  is  yet  a  spirit  of  resistance  in  this  country, 
which  will  not  submit  to  be  oppressed;  but  I  am 
sure  there  is  a  fund  of  good  sense  in  this  country, 
which  cannot  be  deceived. 

JUNIUS. 


XVII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  1,  1769. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  Junius  to  take  the 
trouble  of  answering  your  correspondent  G.  A.  or 
the  quotation  from  a  speech  without  doors,  pub- 
lished in  your  paper  of  the  28th  of  last  month. 
The  speech  appeared  before  Junius's  letter  ;  and, 
as  the  author  seems  to  consider  the  great  proposi- 
tion on  which  all  his  argument  depends,  viz.  that 
Mr.  Wilkes  was  under  that  known  legal  incapacity 
tf  which  Junius  speaks,  as  a  point  granted,  his 
speech  is  in  no  shape  an  answer  to  Junius,  for  this 
is  the  very  question  in  debate. 

As  to  G.  A.  I  observe,  first,  that  if  he  did  not  ad- 
mit Junius's  state  of  the  question,  he  should  have 
shown  the  fallacy  of  it,  or  given  us  a  more  exact 
one;  secondly,  that,  considering  the  many  hours 
and    days  which  the  ministry  and   their  advocates 


HO  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

have  wasted  in  public  debate,  in  compiling  large 
quartos,  and  collecting  innumerable  precedents,  ex- 
pressly to  prove  that  the  late  proceedings  of  the 
house  of  commons  are  warranted  by  the  law,  cus- 
tom, and  practice  of  parliament,  it  is  rather  an  ex- 
traordinary supposition  to  be  made  by  one  of  their 
own  party,  even  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  no 
such  statute,  no  such  custom  of  parliament,  no  such 
case  in  point,  can  be  produced.  G.  A.  may,  however, 
make  the  supposition  with  safety.  It  contains 
nothing  but  literally  the  fact ;  except  that  there  is 
a  case  exactly  in  point,  with  a  decision  of  the 
house  diametrically  opposite  to  that  which  the 
present  house  of  commons  came  to  in  favour  of  Mr. 
Luttrell. 

The  ministry  now  begin  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
weakness  of  their  cause  ;  and,  as  it  usually  happens 
with  falsehood,  are  driven  to  the  necessity  of  shift- 
ing their  ground,  and  changing  their  whole  defence; 
At  first  we  were  told,  that  nothing  could  be  clearer 
than  that  the  proceedings  of  the  house  of  commons 
were  justified  by  the  known  law  and  uniform  cus* 
torn  of  parliament.  But  now,  it  seems,  if  there 
be  no  law,  the  house  of  commons  have  a  right  ta 
make  one ;  and  if  there  be  no  precedent,  they  have 
a  right  to  create  the  first :  for  this,  I  presume,  is 
the  amount  of  the  questions  proposed  to  Junius. 
If  your  correspondent  had  been  at  all  versed  in  the 
law  of  parliament,  or  generally  in  the  laws  of  this 
country,  he  would  have  seen  that  this  defence  is  as 
weak  and  false  as  the  former. 

The  privileges  of  either  house   of  parliament,  it 
is  true,  are  indefinite  :  that  is,  they  have  not  been 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  ill 

described  or  laid  down  in  any  one  code  or  Declara- 
tion whatsoever  ;  but,  whenever  a  question  of  privi- 
lege has  arisen,  it  has  invariably  been  disputed  or 
maintained  upon  the  footing  of  precedents  alone.* 
In  the  course  of  the  proceedings  upon  the  Ayles- 
bury election,  the  house  of  lords  resolved,  "  That 
neither  house  of  parliament  had  any  power,  by  any 
vote  or  declaration,  to  create  to  themselves  any  new 
privilege,  that  was  not  warranted  by  the  known 
laws  and  customs  of  parliament."  And  to  this 
rule,  the  house  of  commons,  though  otherwise  they 
had  acted  in  a  very  arbitrary  manner,  gave  their  as- 
sent ;  for  they  affirmed  that  they  had  guided  them- 
selves by  it  in  asserting  thekr  privileges.  Now,  sir, 
if  this  be  true,  with  respect  to  matters  of  privilege, 
in  which  the  house  of  commons,  individually,  and 
as  a  body,  are  principally  concerned,  how  much 
more  strongly  will  it  hold  against  any  pretended 
power  in  that  house  to  create  or  declare  a  new  law, 
by  which  not  only  the  rights  of  the  house  over  their 
own  member,  and  those  of  the  member  himself, 
are  included,  but  also  those  of  a  third  and  separate 
party  ;  I  mean  the  freeholders  of  the  kingdom  !  To 
do  justice  to  the  ministry,  they  have  not  yet  pre- 
tended that  any  one,  or  any  two,  of  the  three 
estates,  have  power  to  make  a  new  law,  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  third.  They  know,  that  a 
man   who  maintains  such  a  doctrine,  is  liable,  by 

*  This  Is  still  meeting  the  ministry  upon  their  own 
ground  ;  for,  in  truth,  no  precedents  will  support  either 
natural  injustice,  or  violation  of  positive  rights. 


.112  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

statute,  to  the  heaviest  penalties.  They  do  not  ac- 
knowledge that  the  house  of  commons  have  assumed 
a  new  privilege,  or  declared  a  new  law.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  affirm  that  their  proceedings  have  been 
strictly  conformable  to,  and  founded  upon,  the  ancient 
law  and  custom  of  parliament.  Thus,  therefore,  the 
question  returns  to  the  point  at  which  Junius  had 
fixed  it,  viz.  Whether  or  no  this  be  the  law  of  par- 
liament 9  If  it  be  not,  the  house  of  commons  had 
no  legal  authority  to  establish  the  precedent ;  and 
the  precedent  itself  is  a  mere  fact,  without  any  proof 
of  right  whatsover. 

Your  correspondent  concludes  with  a  question  of 
the  simplest  nature  :  Must  a  thing  be  wrong  because 
it  has  never  been  done  before  9  No.  But,  admitting 
it  were  proper  to  be  done,  that  alone  does  not 
convey  an  authority  to  do  it.  As  to  the  present  case, 
I  hope  I  shall  never  see  the  time,  when  not  only  a 
single  person,  but  a  whole  county,  and,  in  effect, 
the  entire  collective  body  of  the  people,  may  again 
be  robbed  of  their  birth-right  by  a  vote  of  the  house 
of  commons.  But  if,  for  reasons  which  I  am  unable 
to  comprehend,  it  be  necessary  to  trust  that  house 
with  a  power  so  exorbitant  and  so  unconstitutional, 
at  least  let  it  be  given  them  by  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  113 


XVIII. 


To   Sir   William  Blackstone,  Solicitor   General  to 
her  Majesty. 

SIR,  July  29,  1769. 

I  shall  make  you  no  apology  for  considering  a 
certain  pamphlet,  in  which  your  late  conduct  is  de- 
fended, as  written  by  yourself.  The  personal  in- 
terest, the  personal  resentments,  and,  above  all, 
that  wounded  spirit,  unaccustomed  to  reproach, 
and,  I  hope,  not  frequently  conscious  of  deserving 
it,  are  signals  which  betray  the  author  to  us  as 
plainly  as  if  your  name  were  in  the  title-page.  You 
appeal  to  the  public  in  defence  of  your  reputation. 
We  hold  it,  sir,  that  an  injury  offered,  to  an  indi- 
vidual is  interesting  to  society.  On  this  principle, 
the  people  of  England  made  common  cause  with 
Mr.  Wilkes.  On  this  principle,  if  you  are  injured, 
they  will  join  in  your  resentment.  I  shall  not  follow 
you  through  the  insipid  form  of  a  third  person,  but 
address  myself  to  you  directly. 

You  seem  to  think  the  channel  of  a  pamphlet 
more  respectable,  and  better  suited  to  the  dignity 
of  your  cause,  than  that  of  a  newspaper.  Be  it  so. 
Yet,  if  newspapers  are  scurrilous,  you  must  confess 
they  are  impartial.  They  give  us,  without  any  ap- 
parent preference,  the  wit  and  argument  of  the 
ministry,  as  well  as  the  abusive  dulncss  of  the  oppo- 


114  JUNIuS'S   LETTERS. 

sition.  The  scales  are  equally  poised.  It  is  not 
the  printer's  fault  it'  the  greater  weight  inclines  the 
balance. 

Your  pamphlet,  then,  is  divided  into  an  attack 
upon  Mr.  Grenville's  character,  and  a  defence  of 
your  own.  It  would  have  been  more  consistent, 
perhaps,  with  your  professed  intention,  to  have 
confined  yourself  to  the  last.  But  anger  has  some 
claim  to  indulgence,  and  railing  is  usually  a  relief  to 
the  mind.  I  hope  you  have  found  benefit  from  the 
experiment.  It  is  not  my  design  to  enter  into  a  for- 
mal vindication  of  Mr.  Grenville  upon  his  own  prin- 
ciples. I  have  neither  the  honour  of  being  personally 
known  to  him,  nor  do  I  pretend  to  be  completely 
master  of  all  the  facts.  I  need  not  run  the  risk  of 
doing  an  injustice  to  his  opinions,  or  to  his  conduct, 
when  your  pamphlet  alone  carries,  upon  the  face  of 
it,  a  full  vindication  of  both. 

Your  first  reflection  is,  that  Mr.  Grenville*  was, 
of  all  men,  the  person  who  should  not  have  com- 
plained of  inconsistence  with  regard  to  Mr.  Wilkes. 
This,  sir,  is  either  an  unmeaning  sneer,  a  peevish 
expression  of  resentment ;  or,  if  it  means  any  thing, 
you  plainly  beg  the  question ;  for,  whether  his  par- 
liamentary conduct,  with  regard  to  Mr.  Wilkes, 
has  or  has  not  been  inconsistent,  remains  yet  to 
be  proved.  But  it  seems  he  received  upon  the  spot 
a  sufficient  chastisement  for  exercising  so  unfairly 


*  Mr.  Grenville  had  quoted  a  passage  from  the  doctor's 
excellent  Commentaries,  which  directly  contradicted  the 
<ioctrine  maintained  by  the  doctor  in  the  house  of  commons. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  115 

his  talents  of  misrepresentation.  You  are  a  lawyer, 
sir,  and  know  better  than  I  do  upon  what  particu- 
lar occasions  a  talent  for  misrepresentation  may  be 
fairly  exerted  ;  but  to  punish  a  man  a  second  time, 
when  he  has  been  once  sufficiently  chastised,  is  rather 
too  severe.  It  is  not  in  the  laws  of  England  ;  it  is 
not  in  your  own  Commentaries ;  nor  is  it  yet,  I  be- 
lieve, in  the  new  law  you  have  revealed  to  the  house1 
of  commons.  I  hope  this  doctrine  has  no  exist- 
ence but  in  your  own  heart.  After  all,  sir,  if  you 
had  consulted  that  sober  discretion  which  you  seem 
to  oppose  with  triumph  to  the  honest  jollity  of 
a  tavern,  it  might  have  occurred  to  you,  that, 
although  you  could  have  succeeded  is  fixing  ». 
charge  of  inconsistence  upon  Mr.  Grenville,  it 
would  not  have  tended  in  any  shape  to  exculpate* 
yourself. 

Your  next  insinuation,  that  sir  William  MerediuV 
had  hastily  adopted  the  false  glosses  of  his  new 
ally,  is  of  the  same  sort  with  the  first.  It  conveys 
a  sneer,  as  little  worthy  of  the  gravity  of  your 
character,  as  it  is  useless  to  your  defence.  It  is  of 
little  moment  to  the  public  to  inquire  by  whom 
the  charge  was  conceived,  or  by  whom  it  was 
adopted.  The  only  question  we  ask  is,  whether  or 
not  it  be  true?  The  remainder  of  your  reflections 
upon  Mr.  Grenville's  conduct  destroy  themselves. 
He  could  not  possibly  come  prepared  to  traduce 
your  integrity  to  the  house;  he  could  not  foresee 
that  you  would  even  speak  upon  the  question ; 
much  less  could  he  foresee  that  you  would  main- 
tain a  direct  contradiction  of  that  doctrine  which 
you   had   solemnly,   disinterestedly,    and,    upon    the 


U6  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

soberest  reflection,  delivered  to  the  public.  He 
came  armed,  indeed,  with  what  he  thought  a  re- 
spectable authority,  to  support  what  he  was  con- 
vinced was  the  cause  of  truth  ;  and,  I  doubt  not, 
he  intended  to  give  you,  in  the  course  of  the  debate, 
an  honourable  and  public  testimony  of  his  esteem. 
Thinking  highly  of  his  abilities,  I  cannot,  however, 
allow  him  the  gift  of  divination.  As  to  what  you 
are  pleased  to  call  a  plan,  coolly  formed,  to  impose 
upon  the  house  of  commons,  and  his  producing  it, 
without  provocation,  at  midnight,  I  consider  it  as 
the  language  of  pique  and  invective,  therefore  un- 
worthy of  regard.  But,  sir,  I  am  sensible  I  have 
followed  your  example  too  long,  and  wandered  from 
the  point. 

The  quotation  from  your  Commentaries  is  matter 
of  record  :  it  can  neither  be  altered  by  your  friends, 
nor  misrepresented  by  your  enemies  :  and  I  am 
willing  to  take  your  own  word  for  what  you  have 
said  in  the  house  of  commons.  If  there  be  a  real 
difference  between  what  you  have  written  and  what 
you  have  spoken,  you  confess  that  your  book  ought 
to  be  the  standard.  Now,  sir,  if  words  mean  any 
thing,  I  apprehend,  that  when  a  long  enumeration 
of  disqualifications  (whether  by  statute  or  the  cus- 
tom of  parliament)  concludes  with  these  general 
comprehensive  words,  "  but  subject  to  these  re- 
strictions and  disqualifications,  every  subject  of 
the  realm  is  eligible  of  common  right," — a  reader, 
of  plain  understanding,  must  of  course  rest  satisfied 
that  no  species  of  disqualification  whatsoever  had 
been  omitted.  The  known  character  of  the  author, 
and  the   apparent  accuracy  with  which  the   whole 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  lit 

work  is -compiled,  would  confirm  him  in  his  opinion  : 
nor  could  he  possibly  form  any  other  judgment, 
without  looking  upon  your  Commentaries  in  the 
same  light  in  which  you  consider  those  penal 
laws,  which,  though  not  repealed,  are  fallen  into 
disuse,  and  are  now,  in  effect,  a  snare  to  the 
unwary.* 

You  tell  us,  indeed,  that  it  was  not  part  of  your 
plan  to  specify  any  temporary  incapacity  ;  and 
that  you  could  not,  without  a  spirit  of  prophecy, 
have  specified  the  disability  of  a  private  individual 
subsequent  to  the  period  at  which  you  wrote.  What 
your  plan  was  I  know  not ;  but  what  it  should 
have  been,  in  order  to  complete  the  work  you  have 
given  us,  is  by  no  means  difficult  to  determine. 
The  incapacity,  which  you  call  temporary,  may 
continue  seven  years  ;  and  though  you  might  not 
have  foreseen  the  particular  case  of  Mr.  Wilkes, 
you  might,  and  should,  have  foreseen  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  case,  and  told  us  how  far  the  house 
of  commons  were  authorised  to  proceed  in  it  by  the 
law  and  custom  of  parliament.  The  freeholders  of 
Middlesex  would  then  have  known  what  they  had 
to  trust  to,  and  would  never  have  returned  Mr. 
Wilkes,  when  colonel  Luttrell  was  a  candidate 
against  him.  They  would  have  chosen  some  in- 
different   person,    rather    than  submit  to  be  repre- 


*  If,  in  stating  the  law  upon  any  point,  a  judge  deli- 
berately affirms  that  he  lias  included  every  case,  and  it 
should  appear  that  he  has  purposely  omitted  a  material 
case,  he  does,  in  effect,  lay  a  snare  for  the  unwary. 


118  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

sentcd  by   the   object  of  their  contempt  and  detes- 
tation. 

Your  attempt  to   distinguish  between  disabilities 
which  affect  whole  classes  of  men,  and  those  which 
affect  individuals  only,   is  really  unworthy  of  your 
understanding.      Your     Commentaries   had    taught 
me,   that,  although    the  instance  in  which   a  penal 
law  is  exerted,  be  particular,   the  laws  themselves 
are  general  :   they  are  made  for  the  benefit  and  in- 
struction   of  the   public,    though    the   penalty   falls 
only  upon  an   individual.     You   cannot  but  know, 
sir,  that  what  was  Mr.  Wilkes's  case  j'esterday  may 
be  yours  or  mine  to-morrow,  and  that,  consequently, 
the   common  right  of  every   subject  of  the    realm 
is  invaded   by   it.     Professing,  therefore,  to  treat  of 
the  constitution   of  the   house   of  commons,  and   of 
the   laws  and  customs  relative  to  that  constitution, 
you  certainly  were  guilty  of  a  most  unpardonable 
omission,  in  taking  no  notice  of  a  right  and  privi- 
lege  of  the   house   more   extraordinary    and   more 
arbitrary  than   all   the  others  they  possess  put   to- 
gether.    If  the  expulsion  of  a  member,  not  under 
any  legal  disability,  of  itself  creates  in  him  an  in- 
capacity to  be  elected,  1  see  a  ready  way  marked 
out,  by  which  the  majority  may,  at  any  time,  remove 
the  honestest  and  ablest  men  who  happen  to  be  in 
opposition   to    them.     To    say   that   they   will    not 
make   this  extravagant  use   of  their   power   would 
be  a  language  unfit  for  a  man  so  learned  in  the  laws 
as  you  are.     By  your  doctrine,  sir,  they  have  the 
power  :  and  laws,  you  know,  are  intended  to  guard 
against  what  men  may  do,  not  to  trust  to  what  they 
will  do. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  119 

Upon  the  whole,  sir,  the  charge  against  you  is 
of  a  plain,  simple  nature  ;  it  appears  even  upon  the 
/ace  of  your  own  pamphlet.  On  the  contrary,  your 
justification  of  yourself  is  full  of  subtilty  and  re- 
finement, and  in  some  places  not  very  intelligible., 
If  I  were  personally  your  enemy,  I  should  dwell 
with  %  malignant  pleasure  upon  those  great  and 
useful  qualifications  which  you  certainly  posess, 
and  by  which  you  once  acquired,  though  they  could 
not  preserve  to  you,  the  respect  and  esteem  of  yrur 
country  ;  I  should  enumerate  the  honours  you  have 
lost,  and  the  virtues  you  have  disgraced  ;  but,  having 
no  private  resentments  to  gratify,  I  think  it  sufficient 
to  have  given  my  opinion  of  your  public  conduct, 
leaving  the  punishment  it  deserves  to  your  closet  and 
to  yourself. 

JUNIUS. 


XIX. 


Addressed  to  the  "Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  14,  1769. 

A  correspondent  of  the  St.  James's  Evening  Post 
first  wilfully  misunderstands  Junius,  then  censures 
him  for  a  bad  reasoner.  Junius  does  not  say  that 
it  was  incumbent  upon  doctor  Blackstone  to  foresee 
and  state  the  crimes  for  which  Mr.  Wilkes  was  ex- 
pelled. If,  by  a  spirit  of  prophecy,  he  had  even  done 
so,  it  would  have  been  nothing  to  the  purpose.     The 


120  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

question  is,  not  for  what  particular  offences  a  per- 
son may  be  expelled,  but,  generally,  whether  by  the 
law  of  parliament  expulsion  alone  creates  a  disquali- 
fication. If  the  affirmative  be  the  law  of  parliament, 
doctor  Blackstone  might  and  should  have  told  us  so. 
The  question  is  not  confined  to  this  or  that  parti- 
cular person,  but  forms  one  great  general  branch 
of  disqualification,  too  important  in  itself,  and  too 
extensive  in  its  consequences,  to  be  omitted  in  an 
accurate  work  expressly  treating  of  the  law  of  par- 
liament. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  evidently  this  :  doctor 
Blackstone,  while  he  was  speaking  in  the  house  of 
commons,  never  once  thought  of  his  Commentaries, 
until  the  contradiction  was  unexpectedly  urged,  and 
stared  him  in  the  face.  Instead  of  defending  him- 
self upon  the  spot,  he  sunk  under  the  charge  in  an 
agony  of  confusion  and  despair.  It  was  well  known 
that  there  was  a  pause  of  some  minutes  in  the 
house,  from  a  general  expectation  that  the  doctor 
would  say  something  in  his  own  defence  ;  but  it 
seems  his  faculties  were  too  much  overpowered  to 
think  of  those  subtilties  and  refinements  which 
have  since  occurred  to  him.  It  was  then  Mr.  Gren- 
ville  received  that  severe  chastisement  which  the 
doctor  mentions  with  so  much  triumph  :  /  wish  the 
honourable  gentleman,  instead  of  shaking  his  head, 
would  shake  a  good  argument  out  of  it.  If  to  the 
elegance,  novelty,  and  bitterness  of  this  ingenious 
sarcasm,  we  add  the  natural  melody  of  the  amiable 
sir  Fletcher  Norton's  pipe,  we  shall  not  be  surprised 
that  Mr.  Grenville  was  unable  to  make  him  any 
reply. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  121 

As  to  the  doctor,  I  would  recommend  it  to  him 
to  be  quiet.  If  not,  he  may,  perhaps,  hear  again 
from  Junius  himself. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


Postscript  to  a  pamphlet  entitled  An  Answer  to 
the  Question  stated ;  supposed  to  be  written  by 
Dr.  Blackstone,  solicitor  to  the  queen,  in  answer 
to  Junius's  letter. 

Since  these  papers  were  sent  to  the  press,  a  writer, 
in  the  public  papers,  who  subscribes  himself  Junius, 
has  made  a  feint  of  bringing  this  question  to  a  short 
issue.  Though  the  foregoing  observations  contain, 
in  my  opinion  at  least,  a  full  refutation  of  all  that 
this  writer  has  offered,  I  shall,  however,  bestow  a 
very  few  words  upon  him.  It  will  cost  me  very  little 
trouble  to  unravel  and  expose  the  sophistry  of  his 
argument. 

"  I  take  the  question,"  says  he,  "  to  be  strictly 
this :  Whether  or  no  it  be  the  known  established 
law  of  parliament,  that  the  expulsion  of  a  member 
of  the  house  of  commons,  of  itself,  creates  in  him 
such  an  incapacity  to  be  re-elected,  that,  at  a  subse- 
quent election,  any  votes  given  to  him  are  null  and 
void ;  and  that  any  other  candidate,  who,  except  the 
person  expelled,  has  the  greatest  number  of  votes, 
ought  to  b©  the  sitting  member." 

Waving,  for  the  present,  any  objection  I  may 
have  to  this  state  of  the  question,  I  shall  venture 
to  meet  our  champion  upon  his  own  ground  ;  and 
attempt   to   support  the   affirmative  of  it,  in  one  of 

vol.  i.  F 


122  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

the  two  ways  by  which  he  says  it  can  be  alone  fairly 
supported.  "  If  there  be  no  statute,"  says  he,  "  in 
which  the  specific  disability  is  clearly  created,  he. 
(and  we  acknowledge  there  is  none)  the  custom  of 
parliament  must  then  be  referred  to ;  and  some 
case,  or  cases,  strictly  in  point,  must  be  produced, 
with  the  decision  of  the  court  upon  them."  Now 
I  assert  that  this  has  been  done.  Mr.  Walpole's 
case  is  strictly  in  point,  to  prove  that  expulsion 
creates  absolute  incapacity  of  being  re-elected.  This 
was  the  clear  decision  of  the  house  upon  it ;  and 
was  a  full  declaration  that  incapacity  was  the  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  expulsion.  The  law  was 
as  clearly  and  firmly  fixed  by  this  resolution,  and  is 
as  binding  in  every  subsequent  case  of  expulsion, 
as  if  it  had  been  declared  by  an  express  statute  that 
a  "  member,  expelled  by  a  resolution  of  the  house 
of  commons,  shall  be  deemed  incapable  of  being 
re-elected."  Whatever  doubt,  then,  there  might 
have  been  of  the  law,  before  Mr.  Walpole's  case,  with 
respect  to  the  full  operation  of  a  vote  of  expulsion, 
there  can  be  none  now.  The  decision  of  the  house, 
upon  this  case,  is  strictly  in  point,  to  prove  that  ex- 
pulsion creates  absolute  incapacity  in  law  of  being 
re-elected. 

But  incapacity  in  law,  in  this  instance,  must 
have  the  same  operation  and  effect  with  incapacity 
in  law  in  every  other  instance.  Now,  incapacity  of 
being  re-elected  implies,  in  its  very  terms,  that  any 
votes  given  to  the  incapable  person,  at  a  subsequent 
election,  are  null  and  void.  This  is  its  necessary 
operation,  or  it  has  no  operation  ai  all :  it  as  vox 
tt  praterea  nihil.     We  can  no  more  be  called  upon 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  123 

fe  prove  this  proposition,  than  we  can  to  prove  that 
a  dead  man  is  not  alive,  or  that  twice  two  are  four. 
When  the  terms  are  understood,  the  proposition  is 
self-evident. 

Lastly,  it  is,  in  all  cases  of  election,  the  known 
and  established  law  of  the  land,  grounded  upon  the 
clearest  principles  of  reason  and  common  sense, 
that  if  the  votes  given  to  one  candidate  are  null 
and  void,  they  cannot  be  opposed  to  the  votes  given 
to  another  candidate;  they  cannot  affect  the  votes 
of  such  candidate  at  all.  As  they  have,  on  the  one 
hand,  no  positive  quality  to  add  or  establish,  so 
have  they,  on  the  other  hand,  no  negative  one  to 
subtract  or  destroy.  They  are,  in  a  word,  a  mere 
nonentity.  Such  was  the  determination  of  the 
house  of  commons  in  the  Maiden  and  Bedford  elec- 
tions ;  cases  strictly  in  point  to  the  present  question, 
as  far  as  they  are  meant  to  be  in  point ;  and  to  say 
that  they  are  not  in  point  in  all  circumstances,  in 
those  particularly  which  are  independent  of  the  pro- 
position which  they  are  quoted  to  prove,  is  to  say  no 
more  than  that  Maiden  is  not  Middlesex,  nor  Serjeant 
Comyns  Mr.  Wilkes. 

Let  us  see  then  how  our  proof  stands.  Expulsion 
creates  incapacity,  incapacity  annihilates  any  votes 
given  to  the  incapable  person  :  the  votes  given  to 
the  qualified  candidate  stand,  upon  their  own  bot^ 
torn,  firm  and  untouched,  and  can  alono  have  effect. 
This,  one  would  think,  would  be  sufficient.  But 
we  are  stopped  short,  and  told  that  none  of  our 
precedents  come  home  to  the  present  case,  and  are 
challenged  to  produce  "  a  precedent  in  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  house  of  commons  that  does  come 


124  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

home  to  it,  viz.  ivhere  an  expelled  member  has  been 
returned  again,  and  another  candidate,  with  an  in- 
ferior number  of  votes,  has  been  declared  the  sitting 
member." 

Instead  of  a  precedent,  I  will  beg  leave  to  put  a 
case,    which,  I  fancy,    will  be  quite  as  decisive  to 
the    present    point.     Suppose    another    Sacheverell 
(and  every  party  must  have  its   Sacheverell)  should, 
at    some    future    election,    take  it  into  his  head  to 
offer  himself  a  candidate   for  the  county  of  Middle- 
sex.    He  is  opposed  by  a  candidate  whose  coat  is  of 
a  different  colour,    but,    however,  of   a  very  good 
colour.     The  divine  has  an  indisputable  majority  ; 
nay,  the  poor  layman  is  absolutely  distanced.     The 
sheriff,    after    having    had    his   conscience  well  in- 
formed by  the  reverend  casuist,  returns  him,  as  he 
supposes,  duly  elected.     The  whole  house  is  in  an 
uproar  at  the  apprehension  of  so  strange  an  appear- 
ance   amongst   them.       A   motion,    however,    is    at 
length   made,    that   the   person    was    incapable   of 
being  elected  ;    that  his  election,    therefore,  is  null 
and  void;   and  that  his  competitor  ought  to  have 
been  returned.     No,   says   a  great  orator,  first  show 
me  your  law  for  this  proceeding.     Either  produce 
me  a  statute,  in  which  the  specific  disability  of  a 
clergyman  is  created  ;  or  produce  me  a  precedent, 
where  a  clergyman  has  been  returned,  and  another 
candidate,  with  an  inferior  number  of  votes,  has  been 
declared  the  sitting  member.     No   such  statute,  no 
such  precedent,  to  be  found.     What  answer  then  is 
to  be  given  to  this  demand  ?     The  very  same  answer 
which  I  will  give  to  that  of  Junius.     That  there  is 
more  than   one  precedent  in  the  proceedings  of  the 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  125 

house,  "  where  an  incapable  person  has  been  re- 
turned, and  another  candidate,  with  an  inferior 
number  of  votes,  has  been  declared  the  sitting  mem- 
ber ;  and  that  this  is  the  known  and  established  law, 
hi  all  cases  of  incapacity,  from  whatever  cause  it  may 

arise." 

I  shall  now,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  make  a  slight 
amendment  to  Junius's  state  of  the  question,  the 
affirmative  of  which  will  then  stand  thus  : 

"  It  is  the  known  and  established  law  of  par- 
liament, that  the  expulsion  of  any  member  of  the 
house  of  commons  creates  in  him  an  incapacity  of 
being  re-elected ;  that  any  votes  given  to  him  at  a 
subsequent  election  are,  in  consequence  of  such  in- 
capacity, null  and  void ;  and  that  any  other  can- 
didate, who,  except  the  person  rendered  incapable, 
has  the  greatest  number  of  votes,  ought  to  be  the 
sitting  member." 

But  our  business  is  not  yet  quite  finished.  Mr. 
Walpole's  case  must  have  a  re-hearing.  "  It  is  not 
possible,"  says  this  writer,  "  to  conceive  a  case 
more  exactly  in  point.  Mr.  Walpole  was  expelled, 
and,  having  a  majority  of  votes  at  the  next  election, 
was  returned  again.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Taylor,  a 
candidate  set  up  by  the  ministry,  petitioned  the 
house  that  he  might  be  the  sitting  member.  Thus 
far  the  circumstances  tally  exactly,  except  that  our 
house  of  commons  saved  Mr.  Luttrell  the  trouble  of 
petitioning.  The  point  of  law,  however,  was  the 
same.  It  came  regularly  before  the  house,  and  it 
was  their  business  to  determine  upon  it.  They  did 
determine  it ;  for  they  declared  Mr.  Taylor  not  duly 
tUcUd." 


126  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

Instead  of  examining  the  justness  of  this  represen- 
tation, I  shall  beg  leave  to  oppose  against  it  my  own 
view  of  this  case,  in  as  plain  a  manner  and  as  few 
words  as  I  am  able. 

It  was  the  known  and  established  law  of  parlia- 
ment, when  the  charge  against  Mr.  Walpole  came 
before  the  house  of  commons,  that  they  had  power 
to  expel,  to  disable,  and  to  render  incapable  for 
offences.  In  virtue  of  this  power  they  expelled 
him. 

Had  they,  in  the  very  vote  of  expulsion,  ad- 
judged him,  in  terms,  to  be  incapable  of  being  re- 
elected, there  must  have  been  at  once  an  end  with 
him.  But  though  the  right  of  the  house,  both  to  ex- 
pel and  adjudge  him  incapable,  was  clear  and  indubi- 
table, it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  the  full  opera- 
tion and  effect  of  a  vote  of  expulsion  singly  was  so. 
The  Jaw  in  this  case  had  never  been  expressly 
declared  ;  there  had  been  no  event  to  call  up  such 
a  declaration.  I  trouble  not  myself  with  the  gram- 
matical meaning  of  the  word  expulsion  ;  I  regard 
only  its  legal  meaning.  This  was  not,  as  I  think, 
precisely  fixed.  The  house  thought  proper  to  fix 
it,  and  explicitly  to  declare  the  full  consequences 
of  their  former  vote,  before  they  suffered  these  con- 
sequences to  take  effect :  and  in  this  proceeding 
they  acted  upon  the  most  liberal  and  solid  prin- 
ciples of  equity,  justice,  and  law.  What  then  did 
the  burgesses  of  Lynn  collect  from  the  second  vote  ? 
Their  subsequent  conduct  will  tell  us  :  it  will  with 
certainty  tell  us  that  they  considered  it  as  decisive 
against  Mr.  Walpole.  It  will  also,  with  equal  cer- 
tainty, toll  us,   that,  upon   supposition  that  the  law 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  12? 

of  election  stood  then  as  it  does  now,  and  that  they 
knew  it  to  stand  thus,  they  inferred,  "  that,  at  a 
future  election,  and  in  case  of  a  similar  return,  the 
house  would  receive  the  same  candidate,  as  duly 
elected,  whom  they  had  before  rejected."  They 
could  infer  nothing  but  this. 

It  is  needless  to  repeat  the  circumstance  of  dis- 
similarity in  the  present  case  :  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  observe,  that,  as  the  law  of  parliament,  upon 
which  the  house  of  commons  grounded  every  step 
of  their  proceedings,  was  clear  beyond  the  reach  of 
doubt,  so  neither  could  the  freeholders  of  Middlesex 
be  at  a  loss  to  foresee  what  must  be  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  their  proceedings  in  opposition  to  it  j 
for,  upon  every  return  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  the  house  made 
inquiry  whether  any  votes  were  given  to  any  other 
candidate. 

But  I  could  venture,  for  the  experiment's  sake, 
even  to  give  this  writer  the  utmost  he  asks ;  to  allow 
the  most  perfect  similarity  throughout,  in  these  two 
cases  j  to  allow  that  the  law  of  expulsion  was  quite 
as  clear  to  the  burgesses  of  Lynn  as  to  the  free- 
holders of  Middlesex.  It  will,  I  am  confident, 
avail  his  cause  but  little.  It  will  only  prove,  that 
the  law  of  election,  at  that  time,  was  different  from 
the  present  law.  It  will  prove,  that,  in  all  cases  of 
an  incapable  candidate  returned,  the  law  then  was, 
that  the  whole  election  should  be  void.  But  now 
we  know  that  this  is  not  law.  The  cases  of  Maiden 
and  Bedford  were,  as  has  been  seen,  determined  upon 
other  and  more  just  principles ;  and  these  deter- 
minations are,  I  imagine,  admitted  on  all  sides  to  be 
Jaw. 


(28  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

I  would  willingly  draw  a  veil  over  the  remaining 
part  of  this  paper.  It  is  astonishing,  it  is  painful, 
to  see  men  of  parts  and  ability  giving  in  to  the 
most  unworthy  artifices,  and  descending  so  much 
below  their  true  line  of  character.  But,  if  they  are 
not  the  dupes  of  their  sophistry,  (which  is  hardly  to 
be  conceived)  let  them  consider  that  they  are  some- 
thing much  worse. 

The  dearest  interests  of  this  country  are  its  laws 
aud  its  constitution.  Against  every  attack  upon 
these,  there  will,  I  hope,  be  always  found  among6t 
us  the  firmest  spirit  of  resistance,  superior  to  the 
united  efforts  of  faction  and  ambition  :  for  ambition,, 
though  it  does  not  always  take  the  lead  of  faction, 
will  be  sure,  in  the  end,  to  make  the  most  fatal  ad- 
vantage of  it,  and  draw  it  to  its  own  purposes.  But, 
I  trust,  our  day  of  trial  is  yet  far  off;  and  there  is  a 
fund  of  good  sense  in  this  country  which  cannot  long 
be  deceived  by  the  arts  either  of  false  reasoning  or 
false  patriotism. 


XX. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  8,  1769. 

The  gentleman  who  has  published  an  answer  to 
sir  William  Meredith's  pamphlet,  haviug  honoured 
me  with  a  postcript  of  six  quarto  pages,  which  he 
moderately  calls  bestowing  a  very  {ew  words  upon 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  129 

me,  I  cannot,  in  common  politeness,  refuse  him  a 
reply.  The  form  and  magnitude  of  a  quarto  im- 
poses upon  the  mind;  and  men,  who  are  unequal 
to  the  labour  of  discussing  an  intricate  argument, 
or  wish  to  avoid  it,  are  willing  enough  to  suppose 
that  much  has  been  proved,  because  much  has  been 
said.  Mine,  I  confess,  are  humble  labours.  I  do 
not  presume  to  instruct  the  learned,  but  simply  to 
inform  the  body  of  the  people  ;  and  I  prefer  that 
channel  of  conveyance  which  is  likely  to  spread 
farthest  among  them.  The  advocates  of  the  minis- 
try seem  to  me  to  write  for  fame,  and  to  flatter 
themselves,  that  the  size  of  their  works  will  make 
them  immortal.  They  pile  up  reluctant  quarto 
upon  solid  folio,  as  if  their  labours,  because 
they  are  gigantic,  could  contend  with  truth  and 
heaven. 

The  writer  of  the  volume  in  question  meets  me 
upon  my  own  ground.  He  acknowledges  there  is 
no  statute  by  which  the  specific  disability  we  speak 
of  is  created  :  but  he  affirms,  that  the  custom  of 
parliament  has  been  referred  to,  and  that  a  case 
strictly  in  point  has  been  produced,  with  the  de- 
cision of  the  court  upon  it.  I  thank  him  for  coining 
so  fairly  to  the  point.  He  asserts,  that  the  case  of 
Mr.  Walpole  is  strictly  in  point,  to  prove  that  ex- 
pulsion creates  an  absolute  incapacity  of  being  re- 
elected ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  refers  generally 
to*  the  first  vote  of  the  house  upon  that  occasion^ 
without  venturing  to  recite  the  vote  itself.  The 
unfair,  disengenuous  artifice  of  adopting  that  part 
of  a  precedent  which  seems  to  suit  his  purpose,  and 

omitting  the    remainder,    deserves    some   pity,    but 

F  2  9 


130  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

cannot  excite  my  resentment.  He  takes  advantage 
eagerly  of  the  first  resolution,  by  which  Mr.  Wal- 
pole's  incapacity  is  declared  ;  but  as  to  the  two  fol- 
lowing, by  which  the  candidate  with  the  fewest 
votes  was  declared  "  not  duly  elected,"  and  the  elec- 
tion itself  vacated,  I  dare  say  he  would  be  well 
satisfied  if  they  were  for  ever  blotted  out  of  the 
journals  of  the  house  of  commons.  In  fair  argu- 
ment, no  part  of  a  precedent  should  be  admitted, 
unless  the  whole  of  it  be  given  to  us  together.  The 
author  has  divided  his  precedent ;  for  he  knew, 
that,  taken  together,  it  produced  a  consequence 
directly  the  reverse  of  that  which  he  endeavours  to 
draw  from  a  vote  of  expulsion.  But  what  will  this 
honest  person  say,  if  I  take  him  at  his  word,  and 
demonstrate  to  him,  that  the  house  of  commons 
never  meant  to  found  Mr.  Walpole's  incapacity  upon 
his  expulsion  only  ?  What  subterfuge  will  then 
remain  ? 

Let  it  be  remembered,  that  we  are  speaking  of 
the  intention  of  men  who  lived  more  than  half  a 
century  ago  ;  and  that  such  intention  can  only  be 
collected  from  their  words  and  actions,  as  they  are 
delivered  to  us  upon  record.  To  prove  theu-  de- 
signs by  a  supposition  of  what  they  would  have 
done,  opposed  to  what  they  actually  did,  is  mere 
trifling  and  impertinence.  The  vote  by  which  Mr. 
Walpole's  incapacity  was  declared  is  thus  expressed  : 
"  That  Robert  Walpole,  esq.  having  been,  this  ses- 
sion of  parliament,  committed  a  prisoner  to  the 
"Tower,  and  expelled  this  house  for  a  breach  of  trust 
in  the  execution  of  his  office,  and  notorious  cor- 
ruption,  when  secretary  at  war,  was  and  ia  inca- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  131 

pable  of  being  elected  a  member  to  serve  in  this 
present  parliament."*  Now,  sir,  to  my  understand- 
ing, no  proposition  of  this  kind  can  be  more  evi- 
dent, than  that  the  house  of  commons,  by  this  very 
vote,  themselves  understood,  and  meant  to  declare, 
that  Mr.  Walpole's  incapacity  arose  from  the  crimes 
lie  had  committed,  not  from  the  punishment  the 
house  annexed  to  them.  The  high  breach  of  trust, 
the  notorious  corruption,  are  stated  in  the  strongest 
terms.  They  do  not  tell  us  that  he  was  incapable 
because  he  was  expelled,  but  because  he  had  been 
guilty  of  such  offences  as  justly  rendered  him  un- 
worthy of  a  seat  in  parliament.  If  they  had  in- 
tended to  fix  the  disability  upon  his  expulsion  alone, 
the  mention  of  his  crimes  in  the  same  vote  would 
have  been  highly  improper.  It  could  only  perplex 
the  minds  of  the  electors,  who,  if  the}'  collected 
any  thing  from  so  confused  a  declaration  of  the  law 
of  parliament,  must  have  concluded,  that  their  repre- 
sentative had  been  declared  incapable  because  he 
w.as  highly  guilty,  not  because  he  had  been  punished. 


*  It  is  well  worth  remarking,  that  the  compiler  of  a  cer- 
tain quarto,  called  The  Case  of  the  last  Election  for  the 
County  of  Middlesex  considered,  has  the  impudence  to 
recite  this  very  vote  in  the  following  terms  (vide  page  11)  : 
"  Resolved,  that  Robert  Walpole,  esq.  having  been  this 
session  of  parliament  expelled  the  house,  was,  and  is,  in- 
capable of  being  elected  a  member  to  serve  in  the  present 
parliament."  There  canndt  be  a  stronger  positive  proof  of 
the  treachery  of  the  compiler,  nor  a  stronger  presumptive 
proof  that  he  was  convinced  that  the  vote,  if  duly  recited, 
would  overturn  his  whole  argument. 


132  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

But,  even  admitting  them  to  have  understood  it 
in  the  other  sense,  they  must  then,  from  the  very 
terms  of  the  vote,  have  united  the  idea  of  his  being- 
sent  to  the  Tower  with  that  of  his  expulsion ;  and 
considered  his  incapacity  as  the  joint  effect  of 
both.* 


*  Addressed  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser, 

SIR,  May  22,  1771. 

Very  early  in  the  debate  upon  the  decision  of  the  Mid- 
dlesex   election,    it  was   observed    by    Junius,    that    the; 
house  of  commons  had  not  only  exceeded  their  boasted 
precedent  of  the  expulsion  and  subsequent  incapacitation 
of  Mr.  Walpole,  but  that  they  had  not  even  adhered  to  it 
strictly  as  far  as  it  went.     After  convicting  Mr.  Dyson  of 
giving  a  false  quotation  from  the  journals,  and  having  ex- 
plained the  purpose  which  that  contemptible  fraud  was  in- 
tended to  answer,  he  proceeds  to  state  the  vote  itself  by 
which  Mr.  Walpole's  supposed  incapacity  was  declared,  viz. 
u  Resolved,  that  Robert  Walpole,  esq.  having  been  this  ses- 
sion  of  parliament  committed   a  prisoner  to  the  Tower, 
and  expelled  this  house  for  a  high  breach  of  trust  in  the 
execution  of  his  office,  and  notorious  corruption  when  se- 
cretary at  war,  was  and  is  incapable  of  being  elected  a 
member  to  serve  in  this  present  parliament  f9  and  then  ob- 
serves, that,  from  the  terms  of  the  vote,  we  have  no  right 
to  annex  the  incapacitation  to  the   expulsion  only  ;   for 
that,  as  the  proposition  stands,  it  must  arise  equally  from 
♦*>e  expulsion  and  the  commitment  to  the  Tower.     I  be- 
lieve, sir,  no  man,  who  knows  any  thing  of  dialectics,  or 
who  understands  English,  will  dispute  the  truth  and  fair- 
ness of  this  construction.     But  Junius  has  a  great  authori- 
ty to  support  him,  which,  to  speak   with   the   duke   of 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  153 

I  do  not  mean  to  give  an  opinion  upon  the  jus- 
tice of  the  proceedings  of  the  house  of  commons 
with  regard  to  Mr.  Walpole ;  but  certainly,  if  I  ad- 

Grafton,  I  accidentally  met  with  this  morning  iu  the  course 
of  my  reading.  It  contains  an  admonition,  which  cannot 
be  repeated  too  often.  Lord  Sommers,  in  his  excellent 
tract  upon  the  Rights  of  the  People,  after  reciting  the 
votes  of  the  convention  of  the  28th  of  January,  1689,  viz. 
"  That  king  James  the  Second,  having  endeavoured  to 
subvert  the  constitution  of  this  kingdom,  by  breaking  the 
original  contract  between  king  and  people,  and,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  Jesuits,  and  other  wicked  persons,  having  violated 
the  fundamental  laws,  and  having  withdrawn  himself  out 
Of  this  kingdom,  hath  abdicated  the  government,"  fee- 
makes  this  observation  upon  it :  "  The  word  abdicated  re- 
lates to  all  the  clauses  foregoing,  as  well  as  to  his  deserting 
ihe  kingdom,  or  else  they  would  have  been  wholly  in  vain." 
And  that  there  might  be  no  pretence  for  confining  the  ab- 
dication merely  to  the  withdrawing,  lord  Sommers  farther 
observes,  That  king  James,  by  refusing  to  govern  u$ 
according  to  that  law  by  which  he  held  the  crown,  did 
implicitly  renounce  his  title  to  it. 

If  Junius'*  construction  of  the  vote  against  Mr.  Walpole 
be  now  admitted  (and,  indeed,  I  cannot  comprehend  how  it 
can  honestly  be  disputed)  the  advocates  of  the  house  of 
commons  must  either  give  op  their  precedent  entirely,  or 
be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  one  of  the  grossest 
absurdities  imaginable,  viz.  "  That  a  commitment  to  the 
Tower  is  a  constituent  part  of,  and  contributes  half  at  least 
to  the  incapacitation  of  the  person  who  suffers  it" 

I  need  not  make  you  any  excuse  for  endeavouring  to 
keep  alive  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  decision  of  the 
Middlesex  election.  The  more  I  consider  it,  the  more  I 
am  convinced,  that,  as  a  fact,  it  is  indeed  highly  injurious 


134  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

mitted  their  censure  to  be  well  founded,  I  could  no 
way  avoid  agreeing  with  them  in  the  consequence 
they  drew  from  it.  I  could  never  have  a  doubt,  in 
law  or  reason,  that  a  man  convicted  of  a  high  breach 
of  trust,  and  of  a  notorious  corruption,  in  the  execu- 
tion of  a  public  office,  was,  and  ought  to  be,  incapa- 
ble of  sitting  in  the  same  parliament.  Far  from 
attempting  to  invalidate  that  vote,   I   should  have 


to  the  rights  of  the  people ;  but  that,  as  a  precedent,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  dangerous  that  ever  was  established  against 
those  who  are  to  come  after  us.  Yet,  I  am  so  far  a  mode- 
rate man,  that  I  verily  believe  the  majority  of  the  house  of 
commons,  when  they  passed  this  dangerous  vote,  neither 
Understood  the  question,  or  knew  the  consequence  of  what 
they  were  doing.  Therr  motives  were  rather  despicable 
than  criminal,  in  the  extreme.  One  effect  they  certainly 
did  Hot  foresee.  They  are  now  reduced  to  such  a  situation, 
that  if  a  member  of  the  present  house  of  commons  were  to 
conduct  himself  ever  so  improperly,  and,  in  reality,  deserve 
to  be  sent  back  to  his  constituents  with  a  mark  of  disgrace, 
they  would  not  dare  to  expel  him ;  because  they  know  that 
the  people,  in  order  to  try  again  the  great  question  of  right, 
or  to  thwart  an  odious  house  of  commons,  would  probably 
overlook  his  immediate  unworthiness,  and  return  the  same 
person  to  parliament.  But,  in  time,  the  precedent  will  gain 
strength;  a -future  house  of  commons  will  have  no  such 
apprehensions  ;  consequently,  will  not  scruple  to  follow  a 
precedent  which  they  did  not  establish.  The  miser  himself 
seldom  lives  to  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  extortion,  but  his  heir 
succeeds  to  him  of  course,  and  takes  possession  without  cen- 
sure. No  man  expects  him  to  make  restitution ;  and,  no 
matter  for  his  title,  he  lives  quietly  upon  the  estate. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  135 

wished- that  the  incapacity  declared  by  it  could  legally 
have  been  continued  for  ever. 

Now,  sir,  observe  how  forcibly  the  argument 
returns.  The  house  of  commons,  upon  the  face  of 
their  proceedings,  had  the  strongest  motives  to  de- 
clare Mr.  Walpole  incapable  of  being  re-elected. 
They  thought  such  a  man  unworthy  to  sit  among 
them.  To  that  point  they  proceeded,  and  no  far- 
ther ;  for  they  respected  the  rights  of  the  people, 
while  they  asserted  their  own.  They  did  not  infer, 
from  Mr.  Walpole's  incapacity,  that  his  opponent 
was  duly  elected ;  on  the  contrary,  they  declared 
Mr.  Taylor  "  not  duly  elected,"  and  the  election  it- 
self void. 

:  Such,  however,  is  the  precedent  which  my  houest 
friend  assures  us  is  strictly  in  point,  to  prove,  that 
expulsion  of  itself  creates  an  incapacity  of  being 
elected.  If  it  had  been  so,  the  present  house  of 
commons  should  at  least  have  followed  strictly  the 
example  before  them,  and  should  have  stated  to 
us,  in  the  same  vote,  the  crimes  for  which  they 
expelled  Mr.  WUkes :  whereas  they  resolve  simply, 
that,  "  having  been  -expelled,  he  was  and  is  inca- 
pable." In  this  proceeding,  I  am  authorised  to  affirm,' 
they  have  neither  statute,  nor  custom,  nor  reason^ 
nor  one  single  precedent  to  support  them.  On  the 
other  side,  there  is,  indeed,  a  precedent  so  strongly 
in  point,  that  all  the  enchanted  castles  of  ministe- 
rial magic  fall  before  it.  In  the  year  1698  (a  period 
which  the  rankest  Tory  dares  not  except  against) 
Mr.  Wollaston  was  expelled,  re-elected,  and  admit- 
ted to  take  his  seat  in  the  same  parliament.  The 
ministry  have   precluded  themselves   from   all   ob- 


136  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

jections  drawn  from  the  cause  of  his  expulsion  j  for 
they  affirm  absolutely,  that  expulsion,  of  itself, 
creates  the  disability.  Now,  sir,  let  sophistry  evade, 
let  falsehood  assert,  and  impudence  deny ;  here 
Stands  the  precedent :  a  land-mark  to  direct  lis 
through  a  troubled  sea  of  controversy,  conspicuous 
and  unremoved. 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  upon  the  discussion  of 
this  point,  because,  in  my  opinion,  it  comprehends 
the  whole  question.  The  rest  is  unworthy  of  notice. 
We  are  inquiring  whether  incapacity  be,  or  be  not| 
created  by  expulsion.  In  the  cases  of  Bedford  and 
Maiden,  the  incapacity  of  the  persons  returned  was 
matter  of  public  notoriety,  for  it  was  created  by  act 
of  parliament.  But  really,  sir,  my  honest  friend's 
suppositions  are  as  unfavourable  to  him  as  his  facts. 
He  well  knows  that  the  clergy,  besides  that  they  are 
represented  in  common  with  their  fellow  subjects, 
have  also  a  separate  parliament  of  their  own  ;  that 
their  incapacity  to  sit  in  the  house  of  commons  has 
been  confirmed  by  repeated  decisions  of  that  house ; 
and  that  the  law  of  parliament,  declared  by  those 
decisions,  has  been,  for  above  two  centuries,  noto- 
rious and  undisputed.  The  author  is  certainly  at 
liberty  to  fancy  cases,  and  make  whatever  compari- 
sons he  thinks  proper  :  his  suppositions  still  continue 
as  distant  from  fact  as  bis  wild  discourses  are  from 
Solid  argume»t. 

The  conclusion  of  his  book  is  candid  to  an  extreme. 
He  offers  to  grant  me  all  I  desire.  He  thinks  he 
may  safely  admit,  that  the  case  of  Mr.  Walpole 
makes  directly  against  him ;  for  it  seems  he  has  one 
grand  solution  in  petto  for  all  difficulties.     "  If  (says 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  137 

he)  I  were  to  allow  all  this,  it  will  only  prove  that 
the  law  of  election  was  different  in  queen  Anne's  time 
from  what  it  is  at  present." 

This,  indeed,  is  more  than  I  expected.  The 
principle,  I  know,  has  been  maintained  in  fact ; 
but  I  never  expected  to  see  it  so  formally  declared^ 
What  can  he  mean  ?  Does  he  assume  this  language 
to  satisfy  the  doubts  of  the  people,  or  does  he  mean 
to  rouse  their  indignation  .?  Are  the  ministry  daring 
enough  to  affirm,  that  the  house  of  commons  have 
a  right  to  make  and  unmake  the  law  of  parliament, 
-at  their  pleasure  ?  Does  the  law  of  parliament, 
which  we  are  often  told  is  the  law  of  the  land,  does 
the  common  right  of  every  subject  of  the  realm, 
depend  upon  an  arbitrary,  capricious  vote  of  one 
branch  of  the  legislature  t  The  voice  of  truth  and 
reason  must  be  silent. 

The  ministry  tell  us  plainly,  that  this  is  no  longer 
a  question  of  right,  but  of  power  and  force  alone. 
What  was  law  yesterday  is  not  law  to-day :  and  now, 
it  seems,  we  have  no  better  rule  to  live  by,  than  the 
temporary  discretion  and  fluctuating  integrity  of  the 
house  of  commons. 

Professions  of  patriotism  are  become  stale  and 
ridiculous.  For  my  own  part,  I  claim  no  merit 
from  endeavouring  to  do  a  service  to  my  fellow- 
subjects.  I  have  done  it  to  the  best  of  my  under- 
standing; and,  without  looking  for  the  approbation 
of   other    men,    my    conscience  is  satisfied.     What 

cnruns  to  be  done,  concerns  the  collective  body  of 
♦he  people.  They  are  now  to  determine  for  them- 
selves, whether  they  will  firmly  and  constitutionally 

assert    their    rights,    or    make    an    humble,    slavish 


!38  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

surrender  of  them  at  the  feet  of  the  ministry.  IV 
a  generous  mind  there  cannot  be  a  doubt.  We  owe 
it  to  our  ancestors,  to  preserve  entire  those  rights 
which  they  have  delivered  to  our  care.  We  owe  it 
to  Our  posterity,  not  to  suffer  their  dearest  in- 
heritance to  be  destroyed.  But,  if  it  were  possible 
for  us  to  be  insensible  of  these  sacred  claims,  there 
is  yet  aa  obligation  binding  upon  ourselves,  from 
which  nothing  can  acquit  us ;  a  personal  interest, 
which  we  cannot  surrender.  To  alienate  even  our 
own  rights,  would  be  a  crime  as  much  more  enor- 
mous than  suicide,  as  a  life  of  civil  security  and 
freedom  is  superior  to  a  bare  existence  :  and  if  life 
be  the  bounty  of  Heaven,  we  scornfully  reject  the 
noblest  part  of  the  gift,  if  we  consent  to  surrender 
that  certain  rule  of  living,  without  which  the  con- 
dition of  human  nature  is  not  only  miserable  but  con- 
temptible. 

JUNIUS. 


XXI. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  22,  1769. 

I  must  beg  of  you  to  print  a  few  lines  in  expla- 
nation of  some  passages  in  my  last  letter,  which,  I 
see,  have  been  misunderstood. 

1.  When  I  said  that  the  house  of  commons  never 
meant  to  found  Mr.  Walpolc's  incapacity  on  his  ex- 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  130 

pulsion  only,  I  meant  no  more  than  to  deny  the 
general  proposition,  that  expulsion  alone  creates 
the  incapacity.  If  there  be  any  thing  ambiguous 
in  the  expression,  I  beg  leave  to  explain  it,  by  say- 
ing, that,  in  my  opinion,  expulsion  neither  create* 
nor  in  any  part  contributes  to  create  the  incapacity 
in  question. 

2.  I  carefully  avoided  entering  into  the  merits  of 
Mr.  Walpole's  case.  I  did  not  inquire  whether  the 
house  of  commons  acted  justly,  or  whether-  they 
truly  declared  the  law  of  parliament.  My  remarks 
went  only  to  their  apparent  meaning  and  intention, 
as  it  stands  declared  in  their  own  resolution. 

3.  I  never  meant  to  affirm,  that  a  commitment  to 
the  Tower  created  a  disqualification. — On  the  con- 
trary, I  considered  that  idea  as  an  absurdity,  into 
which  the  ministry  must  inevitably  fall  if  they  reason- 
ed right  upon  their  own  principles. 

The  case  of  Mr.  Wollaston  speaks  for  itself.  The 
ministry  assert,  that  expulsion  alone  creates  an  ab- 
solute, complete  incapacity  to  be  re-elected  to  sit  in 
the  same  parliament.  This  proposition  they  have 
uniformly  maintained,  without  any  condition  or 
modification  whatsoever.  Mr.  Wollaston  was  ex- 
pelled, re-elected,  and  admitted  to  take  his  seat  in 
the  same  parliament.  I  leave  it  to  the  public  to 
determine,  whether  this  be  plain  matter  of  fact,  or 
mere  nonsense  or  declamation. 

JUNIUS. 


140  JtfNIUS'S  LETTERS. 


XXII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

September  4,  1769- 
Argument  against  Fact;  or,  a  new  System  of 
Political  Logic,  by  which  the  ministry  have  demon- 
strated, to  the  satisfaction  of  their  friends,  that  expul- 
sion alone  creates  a  complete  incapacity  to  be  re- 
elected, alias..  That  a  subject  of  this  realm  may  be 
robbed  of  his  common  right  by  a  vote  of  the  house 
of  commons. 

FIRST  FACT. 

Mr.  Wollaston,  in  1698,  was  expelled,  re-elected, 
and  admitted  to  take  his  seat. 

ARGUMENT. 

As  this  cannot  conveniently  be  reconciled  with 
our  general  proposition,  it  may  be  necessary  to  shift 
our  ground,  and  look  back  to  the  cause  of  Mr.  Wol- 
faston's  expulsion.  From  thence  it  will  appear 
clearly,  that,  "  although  he  was  expelled,  he  had 
not  rendered  himself  a  culprit,  loo  ignominious  to 
sit  in  parliament ;  and  that,  having  resigned  his 
employment,  he  was  no  longer  incapacitated  by 
law."  Vide  Serious  Considerations,  page  23.  Or 
thus :  "  The  house,  somewhat  inaccurately,  used  the 
word  expelled  ;  they  should  have  called  it  a  motion" 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  141 

Vide  Mungo's  Case  considered,  page  11.  Or,  in 
short,  if  these  arguments  should  be  thought  insuf- 
ficient, we  may  fairly  deny  the  fact.  For  example : 
"  I  affirm  that  he  was  not  re-elected.  The  same  Mr. 
Wollaston,  who  was  expelled,  was  not  again  elected. 
The  same  individual,  if  you  please,  walked  into  the 
house,  and  took  his  seat  there ;  but  the  same  person. 
txx  law,  was  not  admitted  a  member  of  that  parliament 
from  which  he  had  been  discarded."  Vide  Letter  to 
Junius,  page  12. 

SECOND  FACT. 

Mr.  Walpole,  having  been  committed  to  the 
ZDoiver,  and  expelled,  for  a  high  breach  of  trust,  and 
notorious  corruption  in  a  public  office,  was  declared 
incapable,  fyc. 

ARGUMENT. 

From  the  terms  of  this  vote,  nothing  can  be 
more  evident,  than  that  the  house  of  commoris 
meant  to  fix  the  incapacity  upon  the  punishment, 
and  not  upon  the  crime  ;  but,  lest  it  should  appear 
in  a  different  light  to  weak,  uninformed  person*, 
it  may  be  advisable  to  gut  the  resolution,  and  give 
it  to  the  public,  with  all  possible  solemnity,  in  the 
following  terras,  viz.  "  Resolved,  that  Robert  Wal- 
pole,  esq.  having  been  that  session  of  parliament, 
expelled  the  house,  was  and  is  incapable  of  being 
elected  a  member  to  serve  in  that  present  parlia- 
ment." Vide  Mungo,  on  the  Use  of  Quotations, 
page  11. 


142  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

N.  B.  The  author  of  the  answer  to  Sir  William 
Meredith  seems  to  have  made  use  of  Mungo's  quo- 
tation :  for,  in  page  18,  he  assures  us,  "  That  the 
declaratory  vote  of  the  17th  of  February,  1769,  was, 
indeed,  a  literal  copy  of  the  resolution  of  the  house 
in  Mr.  Walpole's  case." 

THIRD  FACT. 

His  opponent,  Mr.  Taylor,  having  the  smallest 
number  of  votes  at  the  next  election,  was  declared  not 
duly  elected. 

ARGUMENT. 

This  fact  we  consider  as  directly  in  point,  to 
prove,  that  Mr.  Luttrell  ought  to  be  the  sitting 
member,  for  the  following  reasons  :  "  The  burgesses 
of  Lynn  could  draw  no  other  inference  from  this 
resolution  but  this;  that,  at  a  future  election,  and 
in  case  of  a  similar  return,  the  house  would  receive 
the  same  candidate  as  duly  elected  whom  they  had 
before  rejected."  Vide  Postscript  to  Junius,  page  37. 
Or  thus  :  "  This,  their  resolution,  leaves  no  room 
to  doubt  what  part  they  would  have  taken,  if,  upon 
a  subsequent  re-election  of  Mr.  Walpole,  there  had 
been  any  other  candidate  in  competition  with  him : 
for  bj'  their  vote,  they  could  have  no  other  inten- 
tion than  to  admit  such  other  candidate."  Vide 
Mungo's  Case  considered,  page  39.  Or,  take  it  in 
this  light:  the  burgesses  of  Lynn  having,  in  defiance 
of  the  house,  retorted  upon  them  a  person  whom  they 
had  branded  with  the  most  ignominious  marks  of 
their  displeasure,  were  thereby  so  well  entitled   to 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  143 

favour  and  indulgence,  that  the  house  could  do  no 
Jess  than  rob  Mr.  Taylor  of  a  right  legally  vested 
in  him,  in  order  that  the  burgesses  might  be  apprised 
ef  the  law  of  parliament ;  which  law  the  house  took 
a  very  direct  way  of  explaining  to  them,  by  resolving 
that  the  candidate  with  the  fewest  votes  was  not 
duly  elected  :  "  And  was  not  this  much  more  equi- 
table, more  in  the  spirit  of  that  equal  and  substantial 
justice  which  is  the  end  of  all  law,  than  if  they  had 
violently  adhered  to  the  strict  maxims  of  law  ?" 
Vide  Serious  Considerations,  pages  33  and  34. 
"  And  if  the  present  house  of  commons  had  chosen 
to  follow  the  spirit  of  this  resolution,  they  would 
have  received  and  established  the  candidate  with 
the  fewest  votes."  Vide  Answer  to  sir  W.  M, 
page  18. 

Permit  me  now,  sir,  to  show  you,  that  the  worthy 
Dr.  Blackstone  sometimes  contradicts  the  ministry, 
as  well  as  himself.  The  speech  without  doors 
asserts,  page  9th,  "  That  the  legal  effect  of  an  in- 
capacity, founded  on  a  judicial  determination  of  a 
complete  court,  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  an 
incapacity  created  by  an  act  of  parliament."  Now 
for  the  doctor.  "  The  law,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
judge,  are  not  always  convertible  terms,  or  one  and 
the  same  thing  ;  since  it  sometimes  may  happen,  that 
the  judge  may  mistake  the  law."  Commentaries, 
vol.  i.  p.  71. 

The  answer  to  sir  W.  M.  asserts,  page  23,  "  That 
the  returning  officer  is  not  a  judicial,  but  a  purely 
ministerial  officer.  His  return  is  no  judicial  act." 
At  'em  again,  doctor.  "  The  sheriff,  in  his  judicial 
capacity,  is  to  hear  and  determine  causes  of  forty 


144  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

shillings  value,  and  under,  in  his  county  court.  He 
has  also  a  judicial  power  in  divers  other  civil  cases. 
,  He  is  likewise  to  decide  the  elections  of  knights  of 
the  shire  (subject  to  the  control  of  the  house  of  com- 
mons,) to  judge  of  the  qualification  of  voters,  and  to 
return  such  as  he  shall  determine  to  he  duly  elected." 
Vide  Commentaries,  vol.  i.  p.  332. 

What  conclusion  shall  we  draw  from  such  facts, 
and  such  arguments,  such  contradictions  f  I  cannot 
express  my  opinion  of  the  present  ministry  more  ex- 
actly than  in  the  words  of  sir  Richard  Steele,  "  That 
we  are  governed  by  a  set  of  drivellers,  whose  folly 
takes  away  all  dignity  from  distress,  and  makes  even 
mlauaitv  ridiculous." 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XXIII. 


To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 

MY  LORD,  September  19,  1769. 

You  are  so  little  accustomed  to  receive  any  marks 
of  respect  or  esteem  from  the  public,  that  if,  in  the 
following  lines,  a  compliment  or  expression  of  ap- 
plause should  escape  me,  I  fear  you  would  consider 
it  as  a  mockery  of  your  established  character,  and, 
perhaps,  an  insult  to  your  understanding.  You  have 
nice  feelings,  my  lord,  if  we  may  judge  from  your 
resentments.  Cautious,'  therefore,  of  giving  offence, 
where  you  have  so  little  deserved  it,  I  shall  leave 


OUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  X45 

the  illustration  of  your  virtues  to  other  hands.  Your 
friends  have  a  privilege  to  play  upon  the  easiness  of 
your  temper,  or,  possibly,  they  are  better  acquainted 
with  your  good  qualities  than  I  am.  You  have  done 
good  by  stealth.  The  rest  is  upon  record.  You 
have  still  left  ample  room  for  speculation,  when 
panegyric  is  exhausted. 

You  are,  indeed,  a  very  considerable  man.  The 
highest  rank,  a  splendid  fortune,  and  a  name,  glo- 
rious, till  it  was  yours,  were  sufficient  to  have  sup- 
ported you  with  meaner  abilities  than  I  think  you 
possess.  From  the  first,  you  derive  a  constitutional 
claim  to  respect ;  from  the  second,  a  natural  exten- 
sive authority  ;  the  last  created  a  partial  expectation 
of  hereditary  virtues.  The  use  you  have  made  of 
these  uncommon  advantages  might  have  been  more 
honourable  to  yourself,  but  could  not  be  more  in- 
structive to  mankind.  We  may  trace  it  in  the 
veneration  of  your  country,  the  choice  of  your 
friends,  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  every  sanguine 
hope  which  the  public  might  have  conceived  from 
the  illustrious  name  of  Russell. 

The  eminence  of  your  station  gave  you  a  com- 
manding prospect  of  your  duty.  The  road  which 
led  to  honour  was  open  to  your  view.  You  could 
not  lose  it  by  mistake,  and  you  had  no  temptation 
to  depart  from  it  by  design.  Compare  the  natural 
dignity  and  importance  of  the  highest  peer  of  Eng- 
land :  the  noble  independence  which  he  might  have 
maintain'  '  in  ■;-. filament ;  and  the  real  interest  and 
respect  which  he  might  have  acquired,  not  only  in 

parliament,  but  through  the  whole  kingdom  ;  com- 
vol.  i.  10 


14G  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

pare  these  glorious  distinctions,  with  the  ambition 
of  holding  a  share  in  government,  the  emolument? 
of  a  place,  the  sale  of  a  borough,  or  the  purchase  ot 
a  corporation  ;  and  though  you  may  not  regret  the 
yirtues  which  create  respect,  you  may  see  with 
anguish  how  much  real  importance  and  authority 
you  have  lost.  Consider  the  character  of  an  inde 
pendent,  virtuous  duke  of  Bedford ;  imagine  what 
he  might  be  in  this  country  ;  then  reflect  one  mo- 
ment upon  what  you  are.  If  it  be  possible  for  me 
to  withdraw  my  attention  from  the  fact,  I  will  tell 
you  in  theory  what  such  a  man  might  be. 

Conscious  of  his  own  weight  and  importance,  his 
conduct  in  parliament  would  be  directed  by  nothing 
but  the   constitutional    duty    of  a  peer.     He  would 
consider  himself  as  a  guardian  of  the  laws.     Willing 
to    support   the  just   measures   of  government,  but 
determined  to   observe   the  conduct  of  the  minister 
with    suspicion,    he   would   oppose   the   violence    of 
faction  with  as  much  firmness  as  the  encroachments 
of  prerogative.     He  would  be   as   little  capable  of 
bargaining  with  the  minister  for  places  for  himself 
or  his  dependents,  as  of  descending  to  mix  himself 
in  the  intrigues   of  opposition.     Whenever  air  im- 
portant question   called   for  his   opinion   in   parlia- 
ment,  he    would  be   heard   by  the  most  profligate 
minister  with  deference  and  respect.     His  authority 
would   either   sanctify  or  disgrace   the  measures  of 
government.     The   people   would   look   up   to  him 
as  to  their  protector ;  and  a  virtuous  prince  would 
have   one   honest   man  in  his  dominions,  in  whose 
integrity   and  judgment  he   might   safely   confide. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  H? 

If  it  should  be  the  will  of  Providence  to  afflict* 
him  with  a  domestic  misfortune,  he  would  submit 
to  the  stroke  with  feeling,  but  not  without  dignity. 
He  would  consider  the  people  as  his  children, 
and  receive  a  generous,  heartfelt  consolation,  in 
the  sympathizing  tears  and  blessings  of  his 
country. 

Your  grace  may  probably  discover  something 
more  intelligible  in  the  negative  part  of  this  illus- 
trious character.  The  man  I  have  described  would 
never  prostitute  his  dignity  in  parliament,  by  an 
indecent  violence,  either  in  opposing  or  defending 
a  minister.  He  would  not  at  one  moment  rancor- 
ously  persecute,  at  another  basely  cringe  to,  the 
favourite  of  his  sovereign.  After  outraging  the 
royal  dignity  with  peremptory  conditions,  little 
short  of  menace  and  hostility,  he  would  never  de- 
scend to  the  humility  of  soliciting  an  interview^ 
with  the  favourite,  and  of  offering  to  recover,  at 
any  price,  the  honour  of  his  friendship.  Though 
deceived,  perhaps,  in  his  youth,  he  would  not, 
through  the  course  of  a  long  life,  have  invariably 
chosen  his  friends  from  among  the  most  profligate 
of  mankind.  His  own  honour  would  have  forbid- 
den him  from  mixing  his  private  pleasures  or  con- 
versation   with   jockeys,     gamesters,    blasphemers, 

*  The  duke  had  lately  lost  his  only  son  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse. 

t  At  this  interview,  which  passed  at  the  house  of  the  late 
lord  Eglintoun,  lord  Bute  told  the  duke,  that  he  was  deter- 
mined never  to  have  any  connexion  with  a  man  who  had  so 
basely  betrayed  him. 


146  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

gladiators,  or  buffoons.  He  would  then  have  never 
felt,  much  less  would  he  have  submitted  to,  the  dis- 
honest necessity  of  engaging  in  the  interests  and 
intrigues  of  his  dependents ;  of  supplying  their 
vices,  or  relieving  their  beggary,  at  the  expense  o* 
his  country.  He  would  not  have  betrayed  such 
ignorance,  or  such  contempt,  of  the  constitution, 
as  openly  to  avow,  in  a  court  of  justice,  the  pur- 
chase* and  sale  of  a  borough.  He  would  not  have 
thought  it  consistent  with  his  rank  in  the  state,  or 
even  with  his  personal  importance,  to  be  the  little 
tyrant  of  a  little  corporation.!  He  would  never 
have  been  insulted  with  virtues  which  he  had  la- 
boured to  extinguish ;  nor  suffered  the  disgrace  of 
a  mortifying  defeat,  which  has  made  him  ridiculous 
and  contemptible  even  to  the  few  by  whom  he  was 
not  detested.  I  reverence  the  afflictions  of  a  good 
man  ;  his  sorrows  are  sacred.  But  how  can  we  take 
part  in  the  distresses  of  a  man  whom  we  can  nei- 
ther love  or  esteem  :  or  feel  for  a  calamity  of  which 
he  himself  is  insensible?  Where  was  the  father's 
heart,  when  he  could  look  for,  or  find,  an  imme- 


*  In  an  answer  in  chancery,  in  a  suit  against  him  to 
recover  a  large  sura,  paid  him  by  a  person  whom  he  had 
undertaken  to  return  to  parliament  for  one  of  his  grace's 
boroughs,  he  was  compelled  to  repay  the  money. 

f  Of  Bedford,  where  the  tyrant  was  held  in  such  con- 
tempt and  detestation,  that,  in  order  to  deliver  themselves 
from  him,  they  admitted  a  great  number  of  strangers  to 
(he  freedom.  To  make  his  defeat  truly  ridiculous,  he 
tried  his  whole  strength  against  Mr.  Home,  and  was  beaten 
upon  his  own  ground. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  149 

tiiate  consolation  for  the  loss  of  an  only  son,  in 
consultations  and  bargains  for  a  place  at  court, 
and  even  in  the  misery  of  ballotting  at  the  India- 
House  ? 

Admitting,  then,  that  you  have  mistaken  or  de- 
serted those  honourable  principles  which  ought  to 
have  directed  your  conduct ;  admitting  that  you 
have  as  little  claim  to  private  affection  as  to  public 
esteem,  let  us  see  with  what  abilities,  with  what  de- 
gree of  judgment,  you  have  carried  your  own  sys- 
tem into  execution.  A  great  man,  in  the  success, 
and  even  in  the  magnitude,  of  his  crimes,  finds  a 
rescue  from  contempt.  Your  grace  is  every  way 
unfortunate.  Yet  I  will  not  look  back  to  those 
ridiculous  scenes,  by  which,  in  your  earlier  days, 
you  thought  it  an  honour  to  be  distinguished  ;* 
the  recorded  stripes,  the  public  infamy,  your  own 
sufferings,  or  Mr.  Rigby's  fortitude.  These  events 
undoubtedly  left  an  impression,  though  not  upon 
your  mind.  To  such  a  mind,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  a 
pleasure  to  reflect,  that  there  is  hardly  a  corne  •  of 


*  Mr.  Heston  Humphrey,  a  country  attorney,  horse- 
whipped the  duke,  with  equal  justice,  severity,  and  perse- 
verance, on  the  course  at  Lichfield.  Rigby  and  lord  Tren- 
tham  were  also  cudgelled  in  a  most  exemplary  manner.  This 
gave  rise  to  the  following  story  :  "  When  the  late  king 
heard  that  sir  Edward  Hawke  had  given  the  French  a  drub- 
bing, his  majesty,  who  had  never  received  that  kind  of  chas- 
tisement, was  pleased  to  ask  lord  Chesterfield  the  meaning 
of  the  word. — "  Sir,"  says  lord  Chesterfield,  "  the  meaning 
of  the  word — But  here  comes  the  duke  of  Bedford,  who  is 
i  able  to  explain  it  to  your  majesty  than  I  am," 


150  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

any  of  his  majesty's  kingdoms,  except  France,  ht 
which,  at  one  time  or  other,  your  valuable  life  has 
not  been  in  danger.  Amiable  man  !  we  see  and  ac- 
knowledge the  protection  of  Providence,  by  which 
you  have  so  often  escaped  the  personal  detestation 
of  your  fellow-subjects,  and  are  still  reserved  for  the 
public  justice  of  your  country. 

Your  history  begins  to  be  important  at  that 
auspicious  period,  at  which  you  were  deputed  to 
represent  the  earl  of  Bute  at  the  court  of  Versailles. 
It  was  an  honourable  office,  and  executed  with  the 
same  spirit  with  which  it  was  accepted.  Your 
patrons  wanted  an  ambassador  who  would  submit 
to  make  concessions,  without  daring  to  insist  upon 
any  honourable  condition  for  his  sovereign.  Their 
business  required  a  man  who  had  as  little  feeling  for 
his  own  dignity,  as  for  the  welfare  of  his  country  ; 
and  they  found  him  in  the  first  rank  of  the  nobility. 
Belleisle,  Goree,  Gundaloupe,  St.  Lucia,  Martin- 
ique, the  Fishery,  and  the  Havana,  are  glorious 
monuments  of  your  grace's  talents  for  negotiation. 
My  lord,  we  are  too  well  acquainted  with  your  pe- 
cuniary character,  to  think  it  possible  that  so  many 
public  sacrifices  should  have  been  made  without 
some  private  compensations.  Your  conduct  carries 
with  it  an  internal  evidence,  beyond  all  the  legal 
proofs  of  a  court  of  justice.  Even  the  callous  pride 
of  lord  Egremont  was  alarmed.*     He  saw  and  felt 


*  This  man,  notwithstanding  his  pride  and  Tory  prin- 
ciples, had  some  English  stuff  in  him.  Upon  an  official 
letter  he  wrote  to  the  duke  of  Bedford,  the  duke  desired  to 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  151 

his  own  dishonour  in  corresponding  with  you  :  and 
there  certainly  was  a  moment  at  which  he  meant  to 
have  resisted,  had  not  a  fatal  lethargy  prevailed  over 
his  faculties,  and  carried  all  sense  and  memory  away 
with  it. 

I  will  not  pretend  to  specify  the  secret  terms  on 
which  you  were  invited  to  support*  an  administra- 
tion which  lord  Bute  pretended  to  leave  in  full 
possession  of  their  ministerial  authority,  and  per- 
fectly masters  of  themselves.  He  was  not  of  a 
temper  to  relinquish  power,  though  he  retired  from 
employment.  Stipulations  were  certainly  made  be- 
tween your  grace  and  him,  and  certainly  violated. 
After  two  years'  submission,  you  thought  you  had 
collected  strength  enough  to  control  his  influence, 
and  that  it  was  your  turn  to  be  a  tyrant,  because  you 
had  been  a  slave.  When  you  found  yourself  mis- 
taken in  your  opinion  of  your  gracious  master's 
firmness,  disappointment  got  the  better  of  all  your 
humble  discretion,  and  carried  you  to  an  excess  of 
outrage  to  his  person,  as  distant  from  true  spirit,  as 
from  all  decency  and  respect.t     After  robbing  him 


be  recalled,  and  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  lord 
Bute  could  appease  him.  , 

*  Mr.  Grenville,  lord  Halifax,  and  lord  Egremont. 

t  The  ministry  having  endeavoured  to  exclude  the  dow- 
ager out  of  the  Regency  Bill,  the  earl  of  Bute  determined 
to  dismiss  them.     Upon  this,  the  duke  of  Bedford  demanded 

an  audience  of  the ,  reproached  him  in  plain 

terms  with  his  duplicity,  baseness,  falsehood,  treachery,  and 
hypocrisy  ;  repeatedly  gave  him  the  lie,  and  left  him  in 
convulsions, 


152  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

of  the  rights  of  a  king,  you  would  not  permit  hint 
to  preserve  the  honour  of  a  gentleman.  It  was 
then  lord  Weymouth  was  nominated  to  Ireland, 
and  despatched  (we  well  remember  with  what  inde- 
cent hurry)  to  plunder  the  treasury  of  the  first  fruits 
of  an  employment,  which  you  well  knew  he  was 
never  to  execute.* 

This  sudden  declaration  of  war  against  the  fa- 
vourite, might  have  given  you  a  momentary  merit 
iv i th  the  public,  if  it  had  either  been  adopted  upon 
principle,  or  maintained  with  resolution.  With- 
out looking  back  to  all  your  former  servility,  we 
need  only  observe  your  subsequent  conduct,  to  see 
upon  what  motives  you  acted.  Apparently  united 
with  Mr.  Grenville,  you  waited  until  lord  Rocking- 
ham's feeble  administration  should  dissolve  in  its 
own  weakness.  The  moment  their  dismission  was 
suspected,  the  moment  you  perceived  that  another 
system  was  adopted  in  the  closet,  you  thought  it  no 
disgrace  to  return  to  your  former  dependence,  and 
solicit  once  more  the  friendship  of  lord  Bute.  You 
begged  an  interview,  at  which  he  had  spirit  enough 
to  treat  you  with  contempt. 

It  would  now  be  of  little  use  to  point  out  by  what 
a  train  of  weak,  injudicious  measures,  it  became 
necessary,  or  was  thought  so,  to  call  you  back  to  a 
share   in  the   administration.t     The  friends,  whom 


*  He  received  three  thousand  pounds  for  plate  and 
equipage  money. 

f  When  earl  Gower  was  appointed  president  of  the 
council,  the  king,    with  his  usual  sincerity,    assured  him, 


JUNIIjS'S  LETTERS.  155 

you  did  not  in  the  last  instance  desert,  were  not  of 
a  character  to  add  strength  or  credit  to  government : 
and,  at  that  time,  your  alliance  with  the  duke  of 
Grafton,  was,  I  presume,  hardly  foreseen.  We  must 
look  for  other  stipulations  to  account  for  that  sud- 
den resolution  of  the  closet,  by  which  three  of  your 
dependents*  (whose  characters,  I  think,  cannot  be 
less  respected  than  they  are)  were  advanced  to 
offices,  through  which  you  might  again  control  the 
minister,  and  probably  engross  the  whole  direction 
of  affairs. 

The  possession  of  absolute  power  is  now  once 
more  within  your  reach.  The  measures  you  have 
taken  to  obtain  and  confirm  it,  are  too  gross  to 
escape  the  eyes  of  a  discerning,  judicious  prince. 
His  palace  is  besieged  ',  the  lines  of  circumvallation 
are  drawing  round  him;  and,  unless  he  finds  a  re- 
source in  his  own  activity,  or  in  the  attachment  of 
the  real  friends  of  his  family,  the  best  of  princes 
must  submit  to  the  confinement  of  a  state  prisoner, 
until  your  grace's  death,  or  some  less  fortunate 
event,  shall  raise  the  siege.  For  the  present,  you 
may  safely  resume  that  style  of  insult  and  menace, 
which  even  a  private  gentleman  cannot  submit  to 
hear  without  being  contemptible.  Mr.  M'Kenzie's 
history  is  not  yet  forgotten  j  and  you  may  find  pre- 
cedents enough  of  the  mode  in  which  an  imperious 


that  he  had  not  had  one  happy  moment  since  the  duke  of 

Bedford  left  him. 

*  Lords  Gower,  Weymouth,  and  Sandwich. 

G  2 


154  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

subject  may  signify  his  pleasure  to  his  sovereign, 
Where  will  this  gracious  monarch  look  for  assist- 
ance, when  the  wretched  Grafton  could  forget  his 
obligations  to  his  master,  and  desert  him  for  a  hol- 
low alliance  with  such  a  man  as  the  duke  of 
Bedford  ! 

Let  us  consider  you,  then,  as  arrived  at  the  sum- 
mit of  worldly  greatness  ;  let  us  suppose  that  all 
your  plans  of  avarice  and  ambition  are  accom- 
plished, and  your  most  sanguine  wishes  gratified,  in 
the  fear  as  well  as  the  hatred  of  the  people ;  can  age 
itself  forget  that  you  are  new  in  the  last  act  of  life  ? 
Can  gray  hairs  make  folly  venerable  ?  And  is  there 
no  period  to  be  reserved  for  meditation  and  re- 
tirement ?  For  shame,  my-  lord  !  let  it  not  be  re- 
corded of  you,  that  the  latest  moments  of  your  life 
were  dedicated  to  the  same  unworthy  pursuits,  the 
same  busy  agitations,  in  which  your  youth  and 
manhood  were  exhausted.  Consider  that,  although 
you  cannot  disgrace  your  former  life,  you  are  vio- 
lating the  character  of  age,  and  exposing  the  im- 
potent imbecility,  after  you  have  lost  the  vigour,  of 
the  passions. 

Your  friends  will  ask,  perhaps,  Whither  shall  this 
unhappy  old  man  retire?  Can  lie  remain  in  the 
metropolis,  where  his  life  has  been  so  often  threat- 
ened, and  his  palace  so  often  attacked  ?  If  he  returns 
to  Woburn,  scorn  and  mockery  await  him.  He 
must  create  a  solitude  round  his  estate,  if  he  would 
avoid  the  face  of  reproach  and  derision.  At  Ply- 
mouth, his  destruction  would  be  more  than  probable  j 
at  Exeter,  inevitable.     No  honest  Englishman  will 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  155 

t\cr  forget  his  attachment,  nor  any  honest  Scotch- 
man forgive  his  treachery,  to  lord  Bute.  At  every 
town  he  enters,  he  must  change  his  liveries  and 
name.  Whichever  way  he  flies,  the  hue  and  cry  of 
the  country  pursues  him. 

In  another  kingdom,  indeed,  the  blessings  of  his 
administration  have  been  more  sensibly  felt  ;  his 
virtues  better  understood  ;  or,  at  worst,  they  will 
not,  for  him  alone,  forget  their  hospitality.  As 
well  might  Verves  have  returned  to  Sicilj'.  You 
have  twice  escaped,  my  lord  ;  beware  of  a  third 
experiment.  The  indignation  of  a  whole  people, 
plundered,  insulted,  and  oppressed,  as  they  have 
been,  will  not  always  be  disappointed. 

It  is  in  vain,  therefore,  to  shift  the  scene.  You 
tan  no  more  fly  from  your  enemies,  than  from 
yourself.  Persecuted  abroad,  you  look  into  youv 
own  heart  fw  consolation,  and  find  nothing  but 
reproaches  and  despair.  But,  my  lord,  you  may 
quit  the  field  of  business,  though  not  the  field  of 
danger ;  and  though  you  cannot  be  safe,  you  may 
cease  to  be  ridiculous.  I  fear  you  have  listened  too 
long  to  the  advice  of  those  pernicious  friends,  with 
whose  interests  you  have  sordidly  united  your  own. 
and  for  whom  you  have  sacrificed  every  thing  that 
ought  to  be  dear  to  a  man  of  honour.  They  are 
still  base  enough  to  encourage  the  follies  of  your 
age,  as  they  once  did  the  vices  of  your  youth.  As 
little  acquainted  with  the  rules  of  decorum  as  with 
the  laws  of  morality,  they  will  not  suffer  you  to 
profit  by  experience,  nor  even  to  consult  the  propri- 
ety of  a  bad  character.     Even  now  they  tell    you 


156  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

that  life  is  no  more  than  a  dramatic  scene,  in  which 
the  hero  should  preserve  his  consistency  to  the  last ; 
and  that  as  you  lived  without  virtue,  you  should  die 
without  repentance. 

JUNIUS. 


XXIV. 


w  To  Junius. 

SIR,  September  14,  1769. 

Having,  accidentally,  seen  a  republication  of  your 
letters,  wherein  you  have  been  pleased  to  assert, 
that  I  had  sold  the  companions  of  my  success,  I  am 
again  obliged  to  declare  the  said  assertion  to  be  a 
most  infamous  and  malicious  falsehood  ;  and  I  again 
call  upon  you  to  stand  forth,  avow  yourself,  and 
prove  the  charge.  If  you  can  make  it  out  to  the 
satisfaction  of  any  one  man  in  the  kingdom,  I  will 
be  content  to  be  thought  the  worst  man  in  it ;  if 
you  do  not,  what  must  the  nation  think  of  you  f 
Party  has  nothing  to  do  in  this  affair  :  you  have 
made  a  personal  attack  upon  my  honour,  defamed 
me  by  a  most  vile  calumny,  which  might  possibly 
have  sunk  into  oblivion,  had  not  such  uncommon 
pains  been  taken  to  renew  and  perpetuate  this 
scandal,  chiefly  because  it  has  been  told  in  good 
language  ;  for  I  give  you  full  credit  for  your  elegant 
diction,    well-turned    periods,    and    Attic    wit :    but 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  157 

wit  is   oftentimes  false,  though  it  may  appear  bril- 
liant; which  is  exactly  the  case  of  your  whole  per- 
formance.    But,    sir,    I    am    obliged,    in  the  most 
serious  manner,  to  accuse  you  of  being    guilty  of 
falsities.     You    have    said    the    thing   that   is   not. 
To   support  your  story,  you  have  recourse  to  the 
following    irresistible    argument :    "  You    sold    the 
companions    of  your    victory,    because,    when    the 
16th   regiment  was  given    to   you,    you  was  silent, 
The  conclusion  is  inevitable."     I   believe  that  such 
deep    and    acute    reasoning  could  only  come  from 
tuch  an  extraordinary  writer  as  Junius.     But,  un- 
fortunately for    you,   the    premises,    as  well  as  the 
conclusion,  are  absolutely  false.     Many  applications 
have  been  made  to  the  ministry,  on  the  subject  of 
the   Manilla  ransom,    since  the  time  of   my  being 
colonel  of  that  regiment.     As  I  have  for  some  years 
quitted  London,  I  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
the    honourable    colonel    Monson,    and  sir  Samuel 
Cornish,  to  negotiate  for  me.     In  the  last  autumn, 
I    personally  delivered    a  memorial    to  the  earl  o 
Shelburne,  at  his  seat  in  Wiltshire.     As  you  have 
told  us  of  your  importance,  that  you  are  a  persoa 
of  rank  and  fortune,  and  above   a   common  bribe, 
you  may,  in  all  probability,  be  not  unknown  to  his 
lordship,  who  can  satisfy  you  of  the  truth  of  what 
I  say.     But   I   shall  now  take  the  liberty,   sir,   to 
seize  your  battery,  and  turn  it  against  yourself.     If 
your  puerile  and   tinsel  logic  could  carry  the  least 
weight   or   conviction  with  it,  how   must  you  stand 
'affected   by  the  inevitable   conclusion,    as  you    ax*e 
pleased  to  term  it  ?     According  to  Junius,  silence  is 
guilt.     In    many    of  the   public    papers,   you    have 


iSB  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

been  called,  in  the  most  direct  and  offensive  terms,  a 
liar  and  a  coward.  When  did  you  reply  to  these  foul 
accusations  ?  You  have  been  quite  silent,  quite 
chop-fallen:  therefore,  because  you  was  silent,  the 
nation  has  a  right  to  pronounce  you  to  be  both  a  liar 
and  a  coward,  from  your  own  argument.  But,  sir, 
I  will  give  you  fair  play ;  I  will  afford  you  an  oppor- 
tunity to  wipe  off  the  first  appellation,  by  desiring 
the  proofs  of  your  charge  against  me.  Produce 
them !  To  wipe  off  the  last,  produce  yourself.  Peo- 
ple cannot  bear  any  longer  your  lion's  skin,  and  the 
despicable  imposture  of  the  old  Roman  name  which 
you  have  affected.  For  the  future,  assume  the  name 
of  some  modern*  bravo  and  dark  assassin  :  let  your 
appellation  have  some  affinity  to  your  practice.  But 
if  I  must  perish,  Junius,  let  me  perish  in  the  face  of 
day :  be  for  once  a  generous  and  open  enemy.  I 
allow  that  Gothic  appeals  to  cold  iron,  are  no  better 
proofs  of  a  man's  honesty  and  veracity,  than  hot  iron 
and  burning  plough-shares  are  of  female  chastity ; 
but  a  soldier's  honour  is  as  delicate  as  a  woman's  : 
it  must  not  be  suspected.  You  have  dared  to  throw 
more  than  a  suspicion  upon  mine :  you  cannot  but 
know  the  consequences,  which  even  the  meekness  of 
Christianity  would  pardon  me  for,  after  the  injury 
you  have  done  me. 

WILLIAM  DRAPER. 


*  Was  Brutus  an  ancient  bravo  and  dark  assassin  ?  Or 
does  sir  W.  D.  think  it  criminal  to  stab  a  tyrant  to  the 
}»eart  ? 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  159 


XXV. 


Heeret  lateri  lethalis  arundo. 


To  Sir  William  Draper,  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

SIR  September  25,  1769- 

After  so  long  an  interval,  I  did  not  expect  to  see 
the  debate  revived  between  us.  My  answer  to  your 
last  letter  shall  be  short;  for  I  write  to  you  with 
reluctance,  and  I  hope  we  shall  now  conclude  our 
correspondence  for  ever. 

Had  you  been  originally,  and  without  provoca- 
tion, attacked  by  an  anonymous  writer,  you  would 
have  some  right  to  demand   his  name.     But  in  this 
cause  you  are  a  volunteer.     You  engaged  in  it  with 
the    unpremeditated   gallantry   of  a   soldier.     You 
were  content  to  set  your  name  in  opposition  to  a 
man  who  would   probably  continue  in  concealment. 
You  understood  the  terms  upon  which  we  were  to 
correspond,  and  gave  at  least  a  tacit  assent  to  them. 
After  voluntarily  attacking  me,  under  the  character 
of  Junius,  what  possible  right  have  you  to  know  me 
under  any  other  ?    Will  you  forgive  me  if  I  insinuate 
to  you,   that  you  foresaw  some  honour  in  the  appa- 
rent spirit  of  coming  forward  in  person,  and  that  you 
were  not  quite  indifferent  to  the  display  of  your  lite- 
rary qualifications  ? 


260  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

You  cannot  but  know,  that  the  republication  of  my 
letters  was  no  more  than  a  catch-penny  contrivance 
of  a  printer,  in  which  it  was  impossible  I  should  be 
concerned,  and  for  which  I  am  no  way  answerable. 
At  the  same  time,  I  wish  you  to  understand,  that  if  I 
do  not  take  the  trouble  of  reprinting  these  papers,  it 
is  not  from  any  fear  of  giving  offence  to  sir  William 
Draper. 

Your  remarks  upon  a  signature  adopted  merely  for 
distinction,  are  unworthy  of  notice  :  but  when  you 
tell  me  I  have  submitted  to  be  called  a  liar  and  a 
coward,  I  must  ask  you,  in  my  turn,  whether  you 
seriously  think  it  any  way  incumbent  on  me  to  take 
notice  of  the  silly  invectives  of  every  simpleton  who 
writes  in  a  newspaper;  and  what  opinion  you  would 
have  conceived  of  my  discretion,  if  I  had  suffered  my- 
self to  be  the  dupe  of  so  shallow  an  artifice  ? 

Your  appeal  to  the  sword,  though  consistent 
enough  with  your  late  profession,  will  neither  prove 
your  innocence,  nor  clear  you  from  suspicion. 
Your  complaints  with  regard  to  the  Manilla  ransom, 
were,  for  a  considerable  time,  a  distress  to  govern- 
ment. You  were  appointed  (greatly  out  of  your 
turn)  to  the  command  of  a  regiment ;  and  during 
that  administration  we  heard  no  more  of  sir  William 
Draper.  The  facts  of  which  I  speak  may,  indeed, 
be  variously  accounted  for ;  but  they  are  too  notori- 
ous to  be  denied  ;  and  I  think  you  might  have  learn- 
ed, at  the  university,  that  a  false  conclusion  is  an 
error  in  argument,  not  a  breach  of  veracity.  Your 
solicitations,  I  doubt  not,  were  renewed  under  another 
administration.  Admitting  the  fact,  I  fear  an  indif- 
ferent person  would  only  infer  from  it,  that  experi- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  161 

ence  had  made  you  acquainted  with  the  benefits  of 
complaining.  Remember,  sir,  that  you  have  your- 
self confessed,  that,  considering  the  critical  situation 
of  this  country,  the  ministry  are  in  the  right  to  tempo- 
rise with  Spain.  This  confession  reduces  you  to  an 
unfortunate  dilemma.  By  renewing  your  solicita- 
tions, you  must  either  mean  to  force  your  country 
into  a  war  at  a  most  unseasonable  juncture,  or, 
having  no  view  or  expectation  of  that  kind,  that 
you  look  for  nothing  but  a  private  compensation  to 
yourself. 

As  to  me,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  that  I  should 
be  exposed  to  the  resentment  of  the  worst  and  the 
most  powerful  men  in  this  country,  though  I  may  be 
indifferent  about  yours.  Though  you  would  fight, 
there  are  others  who  would  assassinate. 

But,  after  all,  sir,  where  is  the  injury  ?  You  as- 
sure me,  that  my  logic  is  puerile  and  tinsel ;  that  it 
carries  not  the  least  weight  or  conviction  ;  that  my 
premises  are  false,  and  my  conclusions  absurd.  If 
this  be  a  just  description  of  me,  how  is  it  possible 
for  such  a  writer  to  disturb  your  peace  of  mind,  or 
to  injure  a  character  so  well  established  as  yours  ? 
Take  care,  sir  William,  how  you  indulge  this  un- 
ruly temper,  lest  the  world  should  suspect  that  con- 
science has  some  share  in  your  resentments.  You 
have  more  to  fear  from  the  treachery  of  your  own 
passions,  than  from  any  malevolence  of  mine. 

I  believe,  sir,  you  will  never  know  me.  A  con- 
siderable time  must  certainly  elapse  before  we  are 
personally  acquainted.  You  need  not,  however, 
regret  the  delay,  or  suffer  an  apprehension,  that 
any  length  of  time  can  restore  you   to   the  Christian 

U 


162  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

meekness  of  your  temper,  and  disappoint  your  prej 
sent  indignation.  If  I  understand  your  character, 
there  is  in  your  own  breast  a  repository,  in  which 
your  resentments  may  be  safely  laid  up  for  future 
occasions,  and  preserved  without  the  hazard  of 
diminution.  The  odia  in  longum  jacens,  qua  re- 
conderet,  auctaque  promeret,  I  thought  had  only  be- 
longed to  the  worst  character  of  antiquity.  The  text 
is  in  Tacitus :  vou  know  best  where  to  look  for  the 
commentary. 

JUNIUS. 


XXVI. 


A    Word   at  parting  to  Junius. 


*  SIR,  October  7,  1709. 

As  you  have  not  favoured  me  with  either  of  the 
explanations  demanded  of  you,  I  can  have  nothing 
more  to  say  to  you  upon  my   own  account.     Your 


*  Measures  and  not  men,  is  the  common  cant  of  affected 
moderation :  a  base  counterfeit  language,  fabricated  by 
knaves,  and  made  current  among  fools.  Such  gentle  cen- 
sure is  not  fitted  to  the  present  degenerate  state  of  society. 
What  does  it  avail  to  expose  the  absurd  contrivance,  or 
pernicious  tendency,  of  measures,  if  the  man  who  advises 
or  executes,  shall  be  suffered,  not  only  to  escape  with  im- 
punity, but  even  to  preserve  his  power,  and  insult  us  with 
the  favour  of  his  sovereign  ?     I  would  recommend  to  the 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  165 

mercy  to  me,  or  tenderness  for  yourself,  has  been 
very  great.  The  public  will  judge  of  your  motives. 
If  your  excess  of  modesty  forbids  you  to  produce 
either  the  proofs  or  yourself,  I  will  excuse  it. 
Take  courage,  I  have  not  the  temper  of  Tiberius, 
any  more  than  the  rank  or  power.  You,  indeed, 
are  a  tyrant  of  another  sort;  and  upon  your  politi- 
cal bed  of  torture,  can  excruciate  any  subject,  from 
a  first  minister  down  to  such  a  grub  or  butterfly 
as  myself;  like  another  detested  tyrant  of  antiquity, 
can  make  the  wretched  sufferer  fit  the  bed,  if  the  bed 
will  not  fit  the  sufferer,  by  disjointing  or  tearing  the 
trembling  limbs,  until  they  are  stretched  to  its  ex- 
tremity. But  courage,  constancy,  and  patience 
under  torments,  have  sometimes  caused  the  most 
hardened  monsters  to  relent,  and  forgive  the  object 
of  their  cruelty.  You,  sir,  are  determined  to  try  all 
that  human  nature  can  endure,  until  she  expires ; 
else,  was  it  possible  that  you  could  be  the  author  of 
that  most  inhuman  letter  to  the  duke  of  Bedford,  I 
have  read  with  astonishment  and  horror  ?     Where. 


reader  the  whole  of  Mr.  Pope's  letter  to  Doctor  Arbuthnot, 
dated  July  2Gth,  1734,  from  winch  the  following  is  an  ex- 
tract :  "  To  reform,  and  not  to  chastise,  I  am  afraid,  is  im- 
possible ;  and  that  the  best  precepts,  as  well  as  the  best  laws, 
would  prove  of  small  use,  if  there  were  no  examples  to  en- 
force them.  To  attack  vices  in  the  abstract,  without 
touching  persons,  may  be  safe  fighting,  indeed,  but  it  in- 
fighting with  shadows.  My  greatest  comfort  and  encou- 
ragement to  proceed  has  been  to  see,  that  those  who  have 
no  shame,  and  no  frar  of  any  thing  else,  have  appeared 
touched  by  my  satires." 


t64  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

sir,  where  were  the  feelings  of  your  own  heart,  when 
you  could  upbraid  a  most  affectionate  father  with  the 
loss  of  his  only7  and  most  amiable  son  ?  Read  over 
again  those  cruel  lines  of  yours,  and  let  them  wring 
your  very  soul !  Cannot  political  questions  be  dis- 
cussed, without  descending  to  the  most  odious  per- 
sonalities f  Must  you  go  wantonly  out  of  your  way 
to  torment  declining  age,  because  the  duke  of  Bed- 
ford may  have  quarrelled  with  those  whose  cause  and 
politics  you  espouse  f  For  shame  !  for  shame  ! 
As  you  have  spoken  daggers  to  him,  you  may  justly 
dread  the  use  of  them  against  your  own  breast,  did  a 
want  of  courage,  or  of  noble  sentiments,  stimulate 
him  to  such  mean  revenge.  He  is  above  it ;  he  is 
brave.  Do  you  fancy  that  your  own  base  arts  have 
infected  our  whole  island  ?  But  your  own  reflec- 
tions, your  own  conscience,  must,  and  will,  if  you 
have  any  spark  of  humanity  remaining,  give  him 
most  ample  vengeance.  Not  all  the  power  of  words 
with  which  you  are  so  graced,  will  ever  wash  out,  or 
even  palliate,  this  foul  blot  in  your  character.  I 
have  not  time,  at  present,  to  dissect  your  letter  so 
minutely  as  I  could  wish ;  but  I  will  be  bold  enough 
to  say,  that  it  is  (as  to  reason  and  argument)  the 
most  extraordinary  piece  of  florid  impotence  that  was 
ever  imposed  upon  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  too 
credulous  and  deluded  mob.  It  accuses  the  duke  of 
Bedford  of  high  treason.  Upon  what  foundation  ? 
You  tell  us,  "  the  duke's  pecuniary  character  makes 
it  more  than  probable,  that  he  could  not  have  made 
such  sacrifices  at  the  peace,  without  some  private 
compensations:  that  his  conduct  carried  with  it  an 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  165 

Interior  evidence,  beyond  all  the  legal  proofs  of  a 
court  of  justice." 

My  academical  education,  sir,  bids  me  tell  you,  that 
it  is  necessary  to  establish  the  truth  of  your  first 
proposition,  before  you  presume  to  draw  inferences 
from  it.  First  prove  the  avarice,  before  you  make 
the  rash,  hasty,  and  most  wicked  conclusion.  This 
father,  Junius,  whom  you  call  avaricious,  allowed 
that  son  eight  thousand  pounds  a  year.  Upon  his 
most  unfortunate  death,  which  your  usual  good-na- 
ture took  care  to  remind  him  of,  he  greatly  increased 
the  jointure  of  the  afflicted  lady  his  widow.  Is  this 
avarice  ?  Is  this  doing  good  by  stealth  ?  It  is 
upon  record. 

If  exact  order,  method,  and  true  economy,  as  a 
master  of  a  family ;  if  splendour,  and  just  magnifi- 
cence, without  wild  waste  and  thoughtless  extrava- 
gance, may  constitute  the  character  of  an  avaricious 
man,  the  duke  is  guilty.  But,  for  a  moment,  let  us 
admit  that  an  ambassador  may  love  money  too  much  : 
what  proof  do  you  give  that  he  has  taken  any  to 
betray  his  country  ?  Is  it  hearsay,  or  the  evidence 
of  letters,  or  ocular ;  or  the  evidence  of  those  con- 
cerned in  this  black  affair  ?  Produce  your  authori- 
ties to  the  public.  It  is  a  most  impudent  kind  of 
sorcery,  to  attempt  to  blind  us  with  the  smoke,  with- 
out convincing  us  that  the  fire  has  existed.  You 
first  brand  him  with  a  vice  that  he  is  free  from,  to 
render  him  odious  and  suspeeted.  Suspicion  is  the 
foul  weapon  with  which  you  make  all  your  chief 
attacks ;  with  that  you  stab.  But  shall  one  of  the 
first  subjects  of  the  realm  be  ruined  in  his  fame,  shall 
even  his  life   be  in  constant  danger,  from  a  charge 


166  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

built  upon  such  sandy  foundations  ?  Must  his  house 
be  besieged  by  lawless  ruffians,  his  journeys  impeded, 
and  even  the  asylum  of  an  altar  be  insecure  from 
assertions  so  base  and  false  ?  Potent  as  he  is,  the 
duke  is  amenable  to  justice  ;  if  guilty,  punishable 
The  parliament  is  the  high  and  solemn  tribunal  for 
matters  of  such  great  moment ;  to  that  be  they  sub- 
mitted. But  I  hope,  also,  that  some  notice  will  be 
taken  of,  and  some  punishment  inflicted  upon,  false 
accusers ;  especially  upon  such,  Junius,  who  are  wil- 
fully false.  In  any  truth  I  will  agree  even  with 
Junius  ;  will  agree  with  him  that  it  is  highly  unbe- 
coming the  dignity  of  peers  to  tamper  with  boroughs. 
Aristocracy  is  as  fatal  as  democracy.  Our  consti- 
tution admits  of  neither.  It  loves  a  king,  lords,  and 
commons,  really  chosen  by  the  unbought  suffrages 
of  a  free  people.  But  if  corruption  only  shifts  hands, 
if  the  wealthy  commoner  gives  the  bribe  instead  of 
the  potent  peer,  is  the  state  better  served  by  this  ex- 
change ?  Is  the  real  emancipation  of  the  borough 
effected,  because  new  parchment  bonds  may  possibly 
supersede  the  old  ?  To  say  the  truth,  wherever  such 
practices  prevail,  they  are  equally  criminal  to,  and 
destructive  of,  our  freedom. 

The  rest  of  your  declamation  is  scarce  worth  con- 
sidering, except  for  the  elegance  of  the  language. 
Like  Hamlet,  in  the  play,  you  produce  two  pictures : 
you  tell  us,  that  one  is  not  like  the  duke  of  Bed- 
ford; then  you  bring  a  most  hideous  caricature, 
and  tell  us  of  the  resemblance  ;  but  multum  abludit 
imago. 

All  your  long  tedious  accounts  of  the  ministerial 
quarrels,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  cabinet,  are  re-* 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  167 

ducible  to  a  few  short  lines ;  and  to  convince  you. 
sir,  that  I  do  not  mean  to  flatter  any  minister, 
either  past  or  present,  these  are  my  thoughts  :  they 
seem  to  have  acted  like  lovers,  or  children  ;  have* 
pouted,  quarrelled,  cried,  kissed,  and  been  friends 
again,  as  the  objects  of  desire,  the  ministerial  rattle?, 
have  been  put  into  their  hands.  But  such  proceed- 
ings are  very  unworthy  of  the  gravity  and  dignity  of 
a  great  nation.  We  do  not  want  men  of  abilities,  but 
we  have  wanted  steadiness  :  we  want  unanimity; 
your  letters,  Junius,  will  not  contribute  thereto. 
You  may  one  day  expire  by  a  flame  of  your  own 
kindling.  But  it  is  my  humble  opinion,  that  lenity 
and  moderation,  pardon  and  oblivion,  will  disappoint 
the  efforts  of  all  the  seditious  in  the  land,  and  extin- 
guish their  wide-spreading  fires.  I  have  lived  with 
.this  sentiment ;  with  this  I  shall  die. 

WILLIAM  DRAPER. 


*  Sir  William  gives  us  a  pleasant  account  of  men,  who, 
»n  his  opinion  at  least,  are  the  best  qualified  to  govern  an 
empire. 


168  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


XXVII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertise): 

SIR,  October  13,  1769- 

If  sir  William  Draper's  bed  be  a  bed  of  tortures,  he 
has  made  it  for  himself.  I  shall  never  interrupt  his 
repose.  Having  changed  the  subject,  there  are 
parts  of  his  last  letter  not  undeserving  of  a  reply. 
Leaving  his  private  character  and  conduct  out  of  the 
question,  I  shall  consider  him  merely  in  the  capacity 
of  an  author,  whose  labours  certainly  do  no  discredit 
to  a  newspaper. 

We  say,  in  common  discourse,  that  a  man  may 
be  his  own  enemy ;  and  the  frequency  of  the  fact 
makes  the  expression  intelligible.  But  that  a  man 
should  be  the  bitterest  enemy  of  his  friends,  implies 
a  contradiction  of  a  peculiar  nature.  There  is  some- 
thing in  it,  which  cannot  be  conceived,  without  a 
confusion  of  ideas,  nor  expressed,  without  a  solecism 
in  language.  Sir  William  Draper  is  still  that  fatal 
friend  lord  Granby  found  him.  Yet,  I  am  ready  to 
do  justice  to  his  generosity ;  if,  indeed,  it  be  not 
something  more  than  generous,  to  be  the  voluntary 
advocate  of  men,  who  think  themselves  injured  by 
his  assistance,  and  to  consider  nothing  in  the  cause 
he  adopts,  but  the  difficulty  of  defending  it.  I 
thought,  however,  he  had  been  better  read  in  the 
history  of  the  human  heart,  than  to  compare  or  con- 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  169 

found  the  tortures  of  the  body  with  those  of  the  mind 
He  ought  to  have  known,  though,  perhaps,  it  might 
not  be  his  interest  to  confess,  that  no  outward  tyran- 
ny can  reach  the  mind.  If  conscience  plays  the 
tyrant,  it  would  be  greatly  for  the  benefit  of  the 
world  that  she  were  more  arbitrary,  and  far  less 
placable,  than  some  men  find  her. 

But  it  seems  I  have  outraged  the  feelings  of  a 
/ather's  heart.  Am  I,  indeed,  so  injudicious?  Does 
sir  William  Draper  think  1  would  have  hazarded  my 
credit  with  a  generous  nation,  by  so  gross  a  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  of  humanity  ?  Does  he  think  I  am 
so  little  acquainted  with  the  first  and  noblest  charac- 
teristic of  Englishmen  ?  Or,  how  will  he  reconcile 
such  folly  with  an  understanding  so  full  of  artifice  as 
mine  ?  Had  he  been  a  father,  he  would  have  been 
but  little  offended  with  the  severity  of  the  reproach, 
for  his  mind  would  have  been  filled  with  the  justice 
of  it.  He  would  have  seen,  that  I  did  not  insult  the 
feelings  of  a  father,  but  the  father  who  felt  nothing. 
He  would  have  trusted  to  the  evidence  of  his  own 
paternal  heart,  and  boldly  denied  the  possibility  of 
the  fact,  instead  of  defending  it.  Against  whom, 
then,  will  his  honest  indignation  be  directed,  when  I 
assure  him,  that  this  whole  town  beheld  the  duke  of 
Bedford's  conduct,  upon  the  death  of  his  son,  with 
horror  and  astonishment?  Sir  William  Draper  does 
himself  but  little  honour  in  opposing  the  general 
sense  of  his  country.  The  people  are  seldom  wrong 
in  their  opinions ;  in  their  sentiments  they  are  never 
mistaken.  There  may  be  a  vanity,  perhaps,  in  a  sin- 
gular way  of  thinking  :  but,  when  a  man  professes  a 
want  of  those  feelings  which  do  honour  to  the  multi- 

VOL.   T. 


170  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

tude,  he  hazards  something  infinitely  more  important 
than  the  character  of  his  understanding.  After  all. 
as  sir  William  may  possibly  be  in  earnest  in  his  anxi- 
ety for  the  duke  of  Bedford,  I  should  be  glad  to  re- 
lieve him  from  it.  He  may  rest  assured,  this  worthy 
nobleman  laughs,  with  equal  indifference,  at  my  re 
proaches,  and  sir  William's  distress  about  him.  But 
here  let  it  stop.  Even  the  duke  of  Bedford,  insensi- 
ble as  he  is,  will  consult  the  tranquillity  of  his  life,  in 
not  provoking  the  moderation  of  my  temper.  If 
from  the  profoundest  contempt,  I  should  ever  rise 
into  anger,  he  should  soon  find,  that  all  I  have  already 
said  of  him  was  lenity  and  compassion. 

Out  of  a  long  catalogue,  sir  William  Draper  has 
confined  himself  to  the  refutation  of  two  charges  only. 
The  rest  he  had  not  time  to  discuss  ;  and,  indeed,  it 
would  have  been  a  laborious  undertaking.  To  draw 
up  a  defence  of  such  a  series  of  enormities,  would 
have  required  a  life,  at  least,  as  long  as  that  which 
has  been  uniformly  employed  in  the  practice  of  them. 
The  public  opinion  of  the  duke  of  Bedford's  extreme 
economy  is,  it  seems,  entirely  without  foundation. 
Though  not  very  prodigal  abroad,  in  his  own  family, 
at  least,  he  is  regular  and  magnificent.  He  pays  his 
debts,  abhors  a  beggar,  and  makes  a  handsome  pro- 
vision for  his  son.  His  charity  has  improved  upon 
the  proverb,  and  ended  where  it  began.  Admitting 
the  whole  force  of  this  single  instance  of  his  domestic 
generosity,  (wonderful,  indeed,  considering  the  nar- 
rowness of  his  fortune,  and  the  little  merit  of  his  only 
son)  the  public  may  still,  perhaps,  be  dissatisfied, 
and  demand  some  other  less  equivocal  proofs  of  his 
munificence.     Sir  William  Draper  should  have  en- 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  171 

tered  boldly  into  the  detail  of  indigence  relieved,  of 
arts  encouraged,  of  science  patronised,  men  of  learn- 
ing protected,  and  works  of  genius  rewarded.  In 
short,  had  there  been  a  single  instance,  besides  Mr. 
Rigby,*  of  blushing  merit,  brought  forward  by  the 
duke  for  the  service  of  the  public,  it  should  not  have 
been  omitted. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  to  establish  my  inference 
with  the  same  certainty  on  which  I  believe  the  prin- 
ciple is  founded.  My  conclusion,  however,  was  not 
drawn  from  the  principle  alone.  I  am  not  so  unjust 
as  to  reason  from  one  crime  to  another:  though  I 
think  that,  of  all  the  vices,  avarice  is  most  apt  to 
taint  and  corrupt  the  heart,  I  combined  the  known 
temper  of  the  man,  with  the  extravagant  concessions 
made  by  the  ambassador  ;  and  though  I  doubt  not 
sufficient  care  was  taken  to  leave  no  document  of  any 
treasonable  negotiation,  I  still  maintain  that  the  con- 
duett  of  this  minister  carries  with  it  an  internal  and 
convincing  evidence  against  him.  Sir  William  Dra- 
per seems  not  to  know  the  value  or  force  of  such  a 
proof.  He  will  not  permit  us  to  judge  of  the  mo- 
tives of  men,  by  the  manifest  tendency  of  their  ac- 
tions, nor  by  the  notorious  character  of  their  minds. 


*  This  gentleman  is  supposed  to  have  the  same  idea  of 
blushing,  that  a  man,  blind  from  his  birth,  has  of  scarlet  or 
sky-bhie. 

t  If  sir  W.  D.  will  take  the  trouble  of  looking  into  Torey's 
Memoirs,  he  will  see  with  what  little  ceremony  a  bribe  may 
be  offered  to  a  duke,  and  with  what  little  ceremony  it  was 
only  not  accepted. 


172  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

He  calls  for  papers  and  witnesses  with  triumphant 
security,  as  if  nothing  could  be  true  but  what  coul<$ 
be  proved  in  a  court  of  justice.  Yet  a  religious  man 
might  have  remembered  upon  what  foundation  some 
truths,  most  interesting  to  mankind,  have  been  re- 
ceived and  established.  If  it  were  not  for  the  inter- 
nal evidence  which  the  purest  of  religions  carries 
with  it,  what  would  have  become  of  his  once  well- 
quoted  decalogue,  and  of  the  meekness  of  his  Chris- 
tianity ? 

The  generous  warmth  of  his  resentment  makes 
him  confound  the  order  of  events.  He  forgets, 
that  the  insults  and  distresses  which  the  duke  of 
Bedford  has  suffered,  and  which  sir  William  has 
lamented,  with  many  delicate  touches  of  the  true 
pathetic,  were  only  recorded  in  my  letter  to  his 
grace,  not  occasioned  by  it.  It  was  a  simple,  can- 
did narrative  of  facts ;  though,  for  aught  I  know, 
it  may  carry  with  it  something  prophetic.  His 
grace,  undoubtedly,  has  received  several  ominous1 
hints  ;  and,  I  think,  in  certain  circumstances,  a 
wise  man  would  do  well  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
event. 

But  I  have  a  charge  of  a  heavier  nature  against 
sir  William  Draper.  He  tells  us,  that  the  duke  of 
Bedford  is  amenable  to  justice ;  that  parliament  is 
a  high  and  solemn  tribunal ;  and  that,  if  guilty, 
he  may  be  punished  by  due  course  of  law  ;  and  all 
this  he  says  with  as  much  gravity  as  if  he  believed 
one  word  of  the  matter.  I  hope,  indeed,  the  day 
of  impeachments  will  arrive  before  this  nobleman 
escapes  out  of  life ;  but,  to  refer  us  to  that  mode 
of  proceeding  now,  with  such  a  ministry,  and  such 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  173 

at  house  of  commons  as  the  present,  what  is  it, 
but  an  indecent  mockery  of  the  common  sense  of 
the  nation  ?  I  think  lie  might  have  contented  him- 
self with  defending  the  greatest  enemy,  without  in- 
sulting the  distresses  of  his  country. 

His  concluding  declaration  of  his  opinion,  with 
respect  to  the  present  condition  of  affairs,  is  too 
loose  and  undetermined  to  he  of  any  service  to  the 
public  How  strange  is  it  that  this  gentleman 
should  dedicate  so  much  time  and  argument  to  the 
defence  of  worthless  or  indifferent  characters,  while 
he  gives  but  seven  solitary  lines  to  the  only  subject 
which  can  deserve  his  attention,  or  do  credit  to  his 
abilities ! 

JUNIUS. 


XXVIII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

<IR,  October  20,  1769- 

I  very  sincerely  applaud  the  spirit  with  which  a 
lady  has  paid  the  debt  of  gratitude  to  her  benefactor. 
Though  I  think  she  has  mistaken  the  point,  she 
shows  a  virtue  which  makes  her  respectable.  The 
question  turned  upon  the  personal  generosity  or  ava- 
rice of  a  man,  whose  private  fortune  is  immense. 
The  proofs  of  his  munificence  must  be  drawn  from 
the  uses  to  which  he  has  applied  that  fortune.  I  was 
not  speaking  of  a  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  but  of  a 


174  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

rich  English.duke,  whose  wealth  gave  him  the  meaifs 
of  doing  as  much  good  in  this  country,  as  he  derived 
from  his  power  in  another.  I  am  far  from  wishing 
to  lessen  the  merit  of  this  single  benevolent  action  : 
perhaps  it  is  the  more  conspicuous,  from  standing 
alone.  All  I  mean  to  say  is,  that  it  proves  nothing 
in  the  present  argument. 

JUNIUS. 


XXIX. 

Addressed  to  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  October  19,  1769. 

I  am  well  assured  that  Junius  will  never  descend 
to  a  dispute  with  such  a  writer   as  Modestus  (whose 
letter   appeared  in  the  Gazetteer  of  Monday),  espe- 
cially as  the   dispute  must  be  chiefly  about  words. 
Notwithstanding  the  partiality  of  the  public,  it  does 
not  appear   that  Junius  values  himself  upon  any  su- 
perior skill   in    composition  :    and  I  hope  his  time 
will  always  be  more  usefully  employed   than  in  the 
trifling   refinements   of  verbal  criticism.     Modestus, 
however,    shall    have    no  reason  to  triumph  in  the 
silence   and   moderation  of  Junius.     If  he  knew  as 
much  of  the  propriety  of  language,  as,  I  believe,  he 
does  of  the  facts  in  question,  he  would   have  been 
as  cautious  of  attacking  Junius  upon   his  composi- 
tion, as  he  seems  to  be  of  entering  into  the  subject  of 
it :  yet,  after  all,  the  last  is  the  only  article  of  any 
importance  to  the  public. 

I  do  not  wonder  at  the  unremitted   rancour  with 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  175 

which  the  duke  of  Bedford  and  his  adherents  inva- 
riably speak  of  a  nation,  which  we  well  know  has 
been  too  much  injured  to  be  easily  forgiven.  But 
why  must  Junius  be  an  Irishman?  The  absurdity 
of  his  writings  betrays  him.  Waving  all  considera- 
tion of  the  insult  offered  by  Modestus  to  the  de- 
clared judgment  of  the  people  (they  may  well  bear 
this  amongst  the  rest)  let  us  follow  the  several  instan- 
ces, and  try  whether  the  charge  be  fairly  supported. 

1.  Then,  the  leaving  a  man  tu  enjoy  such  a  re- 
pose as  he  can  find  upon  a  bed  of  torture,  is  severe 
indeed ;  perhaps  too  much  so,  when  applied  to  such 
a  trifler  as  sir  William  Draper  ;  but  there  is  nothing 
absurd  either  in  the  idea  or  expression.  Modestus  can- 
Hot  distinguish  between  a  sarcasm  and  a  contradiction. 

2.  I  affirm,  with  Junius,  that  it  is  the  frequency 
of  the  fact  which  alone  can  make  us  comprehend 
how  a  man  can  be  his  own  enemy.  We  should 
never  arrive  at  the  complex  idea  conveyed  by  those 
words,  if  we  had  only  seen  one  or  two  instances  of 
a  man  acting  to  his  own  prejudice.  Offer  the  pro- 
position to  a  child  or  a  man  unused  to  compound 
his  ideas,  and  you  will  soon  see  how  little  either 
of  them  understand  you.  It  is  not  a  simple  idea 
arising  from  a  single  fact,  but  a  very  complex  idea 
arising  from  many  facts,  well  observed,  and  accu- 
rately compared. 

3.  Modestus  could  not,  without  great  affectation, 
mistake  the  meaning  of  Junius,  when  he  speaks  of 
a  man,  who  is  the  bitterest  enemy  of  his  friends. 
He  could  not  but  know,  that  Junius  spoke  not  of  a 
false  or  hollow  friendship,  but  of  a  real  intention  to 
serve,   and  that  intention  producing  the  worst  effects 


17G  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

of  enmity.     Whether  the  description  be  strictly  appli 
cable  to   Sir  William  Draper,    is   another  question, 
Junius  does  not  say,  that  it   is   more  criminal  for  a 
man  to   be  the  enemy   of  his  friends  than  his  own; 
though  he  might  have  affirmed  it  with  truth.     In  a 
moral  light,  a  man  may  certainly  take  greater  liber- 
ties with  himself,   than   with  another.     To  sacrifice 
ourselves  merely,  is  a  weakness  we  may  indulge  in, 
if  we   think   proper,   for  we  do  it  at  our  own  hazard 
and  expense  ;  but,  under  the  pretence  of  friendship, 
to  sport  with  the  reputation,  or  sacrifice  the  honour, 
of  another,  is  something  worse  -than  weakness;  and 
if,  in  favour  of  the  foolish    intention,  we  do  not  call 
it  a  crime,  we  must  allow,  at  least,  that  it  arises  from 
an  overweening,  busy,  meddling  impudence.     Junius 
-ays  only,   and  he  says  truly,  that  it  is  more  extra- 
ordinary ;  that  it  involves  a   greater   contradiction 
than   the   other ;  and,   is  it  not  a  maxim  received  in 
life,   that,   in  general,  we  can  determine  more  wisely 
for  others  than  for  ourselves  ?     The   reason   of  it  is 
so   clear   in  argument,  that  it  hardly  wants  the  con- 
tinuation   of  experience.       Sir   William    Draper,  I 
confess,   is  an  exception  to  the  general   rule,  though 
not  much  to  his  credit. 

4.  If  this  gentleman  will  go  back  to  his  ethics, 
he  may,  perhaps,  discover  the  truth  of  what  Junius 
says,  That  no  outward  tyranny  can  reach  the  mind. 
The  tortures  of  the  body  may  be  introduced,  by 
•.ray  of  ornament  or  illustration,  to  represent  those 
of  the  mind ;  but,  strictly,  there  is  no  similitude  be- 
tween them  :  they  are  totally  different,  both  in  their 
cause  and  operation.  The  wretch  who  suffers  upon 
the  rack  is   merely  passive :  but,  when  the  mind  is 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  117 

tortured,  it  is  not  at  the  command  of  any  outward. 
power  ;  it  is  the  sense  of  guilt  which  constitutes  the 
punishment,  and  creates  that  torture,  with  which  the 
guilty  mind  acts  upon  itself. 

5.  He  misquotes  what  Junius  says  of  conscience,  and 
makes  the  sentence  ridiculous,  by  making  it  his  own. 

So  much  for  composition.  Now  for  fact.  Junius, 
it  seems,  Jias  mistaken  the  duke  of  Bedford.  His 
grace  had  all  the  proper  feelings  of  a  father,  though 
he  took  care  to  suppress  the  appearance  of  them. 
Yet  it  was  an  occasion,  one  Would  think,  on  which 
he  need  not  have  been  ashamed  of  his  grief;  on 
which  less  fortitude  would  have  done  him  more 
honour.  I  can  conceive,  indeed,  a  benevolent  mo- 
tive for  his  endeavouring  to  assume  an  air  of  tran- 
quillity in  his  own  family  ;  and  I  wish  I  could  dis- 
cover any  thing,  in  the  rest  of  his  character,  to 
justify  my  assigning  that  motive  to  his  behaviour. 
But  is  there  no  medium  ?  Was  it  necessary  to  ap- 
pear abroad,  to  ballot  at  the  India-House,  and  make 
a  public  display,  though  it  were  only  of  an  apparent 
insensibility  ?  I  know  we  are  treading  on  tender 
ground ;  and  Junius,  I  am  convinced,  does  not  wish 
to  urge  this  question  farther.  Let  the  friends  of  the 
duke  of  Bedford  observe  that  humble  silence  which 
becomes  their  situation.  They  should  recollect,  that 
there  are  still  «ome  facts  in  store  at  which  human 
nature  would  shudder.  I  shall  be  understood  by 
those  whom  it  concerns,  when  I  say,  that  these  facts 
go  farther  than  to  the  duke.* 

*  Within  a  fortnight  after  lord  Tavistock's  death,  the 
venerable    Gertrude  had  a  rout  at  Bedford    house.     The 
H  2  12 


178  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

It  is  not  inconsistent  to  suppose,  that  a  man  may 
be  quite  indifferent  about  one  part  of  a  charge,  yet 
severely  stung  with  another  ;  and  though  he  feels  no 
remorse,  that  he  may  wish  to  be  revenged.  The 
charge  of  insensibility  carries  a  reproach,  indeed,  but 
no  danger  with  it.  Junius  had  said,  There  are  others 
ivho  would  assassinate.  Modestus,  knowing  his  man, 
will  not  suffer  the  insinuation  to  be  divided,  but 
fixes  it  all  upon  the  duke  of  Bedford. 

Without  determining  upon  what  evidence  Junius 
would  choose  to  be  condemned,  I  will  venture  to 
maintain,  in  opposition  to  Modestus,  or  to  Mr. 
Rigby,  (who  is  certainly  not  Modestus)  or  any  of  the 
Bloomsbury  gang,  that  the  evidence  against  the  duke 
of  Bedford  is  as  strong  as  any  presumptive  evidence 
can  be.  It  depends  upon  a  combination  of  facts  and 
reasoning,  which  require  no  confirmation  from  the 
anecdote  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough.     This  anec- 


good  duke  (who  had  only  sixty  thousand  pounds  a  year) 
ordered  an  inventory  to  be  taken  of  his  son's  wearing  ap- 
parel, down  to  his  slippers,  sold  them  all,  and  put  the 
money  in  his  pocket.  The  amiable  marchioness,  shocked 
at  such  brutal,  unfeeling  avarice,  gave  the  value  of  the 
clothes  to  the  marquis's  servant)  out  of  her  own  purse. 
That  incomparable  woman  did  not  long  survive  her  hus- 
band. When  she  died,  the  duchess  of  Bedford  treated  her 
as  the  duke  had  treated  his  only  son  :  she  ordered  every 
gown-  and  trinket  to  be  sold,  and  pocketed  the  money. 
These  are  the  monsters  whom  sir  William  Draper  comes 
forward  to  defend.  May  God  protect  me  from  doing  any 
thing  that  may  require  such  defence,  or  to  deserve  suck 
friendship. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  K9 

t 
dole  was  referred  to,  merely  to  show  how  ready  a 
great  man  may  be  to  receive  a  great  bribe ;  and  it 
Modestus  could  read  the  original,  he  would  see,  tliat 
the  expression  only  not  accepted,  was,  probably,  the 
only  one  in  our  language  that  exactly  fitted  the  case. 
The  bribe  offered  to  the  duke  of  Marlborough  was 
not  refused. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  taking  notice  of  thi* 
honest  gentleman's  learning,  and  wishing  he  hail 
given  us  a  little  more  of  it.  When  he  accidentally 
found  himself  so  near  speaking  truth,  it  was  rather 
unfair  of  him  to  leave  out  the  non  potuisse  refelli. 
As  it  stands,  the  pudet  hcec  opprobria  may  be  divided 
equally  between  Mr.  Rigby  and  the  duke  of  Bedford. 
Mr.  Rigby,  I  take  for  granted,  will  assert  his  natural 
right  to  the  modesty  of  the  quotation,  and  leave  all 
the  opprobrium  to  his  grace. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XXX. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  October  17,  1769. 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  great  cause  in  which 
this  country  is  engaged,  should  have  roused  and  en- 
grossed the  whole  attention  of  the  people.  I  rather 
admire  the  generous  spirit  with  which  they  feel  and 
assert  their  iuterest  in  this  important  question,  than 
blame  them  for  their  indifference  about  any  other. 
When  the  constitution  is  openly  invaded,  when  the 


180  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

first  original  right  of  the  people,  from  which  all  laws 
derive  their  authority,  is  directly  attacked,  inferior 
grievances  naturally  lose  their  force,  and  are  suf- 
fered to  pass  by  without  punishment  or  observation. 
The  present  ministry  are  as  singularly  marked  by 
their  fortune,  as  their  crimes.  Instead  of  atoning  for 
their  former  conduct,  by  any  wise  or  popular  mea- 
sure, they  have  found,  in  the  enormity  of  one  fact,  a 
cover  and  defence  for  a  series  of  measures,  which 
must  have  been  fatal  to  any  other  administration.  I 
fear  we  are  too  remiss  in  observing  the  whole  of  their 
proceedings.  Struck  with  the  principal  figure,  we 
do  not  sufficiently  mark  in  what  manner  the  canvass 
is  filled  up.  Yet  surely  it  is  not  a  less  crime,  nor 
less  fatal  in  its  consequences,  to  encourage  a  flagrant 
breach  of  the  law,  by  a  military  force,  than  to  make 
use  of  the  forms  of  parliament  to  destroy  the  consti- 
tution.— The  ministry  seem  determined  to  give  us  a 
choice  of  difficulties,  and,  if  possible,  to  perplex  us 
with  the  multitude  of  their  offences.  The  expedient 
is  worthy  of  the  duke  of  Grafton.  But  though  lie 
has  preserved  a  gradation  and  variety  in  his  mea- 
sures, we  should  remember  that  the  principle  is  uni- 
form. Dictated  by  the  same  spirit,  they  deserve  the 
same  attention.  The  following  fact,  though  of  the 
most  alarming  nature,  has  not  yet  been  clearly  stated 
to  the  public  j  nor  have  the  consequences  of  it  been 
sufficiently  understood.-— Had  I  taken  it  up  at  an 
earlier  period,  I  should  have  been  accused  of  an  vai- 
candid,  malignant  precipitation,  as  if  I  watched  for 
an  unfair  advantage  against  the  ministry,  and  would 
not  allow  them  a  reasonable  time  to  do  their  duty. 
They  now  stand  without  excuse.     Instead  of  em- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  18i 

ploying  the  leisure  they  have  had,  in  a  strict  exami- 
nation of  the  offence,  and  punishing  the  offenders, 
they  seem  to  have  considered  that  indulgence  as  a 
security  to  them  ;  that,  with  a  little  time  and  man- 
agement, the  whole  affair  might  be  buried  in  silence. 
and  utterly  forgotten. 

A  major  general*  of  the  army  is  arrested  by  the 
sheriff's  officers  for  a  considerable  debt.  He  per- 
suades them  to  conduct  him  to  the  Tilt-yard,  in  St.. 
James's  Park,  under  some  pretence  of  business, 
which  it  imported  him  to  settle  before  he  was  con- 
fined. He  applies  to  a  serjeant,  not  immediately  on- 
duty,  to  assist,  with  some  of  his  companions,  in  fa- 
vouring his  escape.  He  attempts  it.  A  bustle  en~ 
sues.     The  bailiffs  claim  their  prisoner. 

An  officer  of  the  guards,t  not  then  on  duty,  takes 
part  in  the  affair,  applies  to  the  lieutenant^  com- 
manding the  Tilt-yard  guard,  and  urges  him  to  turn 
out  his  guard  to  relieve  a  general  officer.  The  lieu- 
tenant declines  interfering  in  person,  but  stands  at 
a  distance,  and  suffers  the  business  to  be  done.  The 
officer  takes  upon  himself  to  order  out  the  guard.  In 
a  moment  they  are  in  arms,  quit  their  guard,  march, 
rescue  the  general,  and  drive  away  the  sheriff's  offi- 
cers, who,  in  vain,  represent  their  right  to  the  prison- 
er, and  the  nature  of  the  arrest.  The  soldiers  first 
conduct  the  general  into  the  guard-room,  then  escort 
him  to  a  place  of  safety,  with  bayonets  fixed,  and  in 
all  the  forms  of  military  triumph.  I  will  not  enlarge 
upon   the  various  circumstances  which  attended  this 

*  Major-general  Gansel. 
t  Lieutenant  Dodd.  $  Lieutenant  Gartb. 


182  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

atrocious  proceeding.     The  personal  injury  received 
by  the  officers  of  the  law,  in  the  execution  of  their 
duty,  may,  perhaps,  be  atoned  for  by  some  private 
compensation.     I  consider  nothing  but  the  wound 
which  has  been  given  to  the  law  itself,  to  which  no 
remedy   has    been    applied,   no   satisfaction   made. 
Neither  is  it  my  design  to  dwell  upon  the  misconduct 
of  the  parties  concerned,  any  farther  than  is  necessary 
to   show  the  behaviour   of  the  ministry  in  its   true 
light.     I  would  make  every  compassionate    allow- 
ance for  the  infatuation  of  the  prisoner,  the  false  and 
criminal  discretion  of  one  officer,  and  the  madness  of 
another.     I  would  leave  the  ignorant  soldiers  entirely 
out  of  the  question.     They  are  certainly  the   least 
guilty  ;  though  they  are  the  only  persons  who  have 
vet  suffered,  even  in  the  appearance  of  punishment.* 
The  fact  itself,  however  atrocious,  is  not  the  prin- 
cipal point  to  be  considered.     It  might  have  happen- 
ed under  a  more  regular  government,  and  with  guards 
better  disciplined  than  ours.     The  main  question  is, 
In  what  manner  have  the  ministry  acted  on  this  ex- 
traordinary occasion  ?     A  general  officer  calls  upon 
the  king's  own  guard,  then  actually  on  duty,  to  res- 
cue him  from  the  laws  of  his  country :  yet,  at  this 
moment,  he  is  in  a  situation  no  worse  than  if  he  had 
not  committed  an  offence  equally  enormous  in  a  civil 
and  military  view.     A  lieutenant  upon  duty  design- 
edly quits  his  guard,   and  suffers  it  to  be  drawn  out 
by  another  officer,  for  a  purpose,  which  he  well  knew 
(as  we  may  collect  from  an  appearance  of  caution, 
which  only  makes  his  behaviour  the  more  criminal) 

*  A  few  of  them  were  confined. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  183 

to^be  in  the  highest  degree  illegal.  Has  this  gentle- 
man been  called  to  a  court  martial  to  answer  for  his 
conduct  ?  No.  Has  it  been  censured  f  No.  Has 
it  been  in  any  shape  inquired  into  ?  No.  Another 
lieutenant,  not  upon  duty,  nor  even  in  his  regimentals, 
is  daring  enough  to  order  out  the  king's  guard,  over 
which  he  had  properly  no  command,  and  engages 
them  in  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  his  country,  per- 
haps the  most  singular  and  extravagant  that  ever 
was  attempted.  What  punishment  has  he  suffered  ? 
Literally  none.  Supposing  he  should  be  prosecuted 
at  common  law  for  the  rescue ;  will  that  circumstance; 
from  which  the  ministry  can  derive  no  merit,  excuse 
or  justify  their  suffering  so  flagrant  a  breach  of  mili- 
tary discipline  to  pass  by  unpunished  and  unnoticed  ? 
Are  they  aware  of  the  outrage  offered  to  their  sove- 
reign, when  his  own  proper  guard  is  ordered  out  to 
stop,  by  main  force,  the  execution  of  his  laws.''  What 
are  we  to  conclude  from  so  scandalous  a  neglect  of 
their  duty,  but  that  they  have  other  views,  which  can 
only  be  answered  by  securing  the  attachment  of  the 
guards  ?  The  minister  would  hardly  be  so  cautious 
of  offending  them,  if  he  did  not  mean,  in  due  time,  to 
call  for  their  assistance. 

•  With  respect  to  the  parties  themselves,  let  it  be 
observed,  that  these  gentlemen  are  neither  young 
officers,  nor  very  young  men.  Had  they  belonged 
to  the  unfledged  race  of  ensigns,  who  infest  our 
streets,  and  dishonour  our  public  places,  it  might, 
perhaps,  be  sufficient  to  send  them  back  to  that  dis- 
cipline from  which  their  parents,  judging  lightly  from 
the  maturity  of  their  vices,  had  removed  them  too 
soon.     In  this  case,  I  am  sorry  to  see,  not  so  much 


184  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

ihe  folly  of  youths,  as  the  spirit  of  the  corps,  aud  the 
connivance  of  government.  I  do  not  question  that 
there  are  many  brave  and  worthy  officers  in  the  re- 
giments of  guards.  But  considering  them  as  a  corps-, 
I  fear,  it  will  be  found,  that  they  are  neither  good 
soldiers  nor  good  subjects.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
insinuate  the  most  distant  reflection  upon  the  army. 
On  the  contrary,  I  honour  and  esteem  the  profession  ; 
and,  if  these  gentlemen  were  better  soldiers,  I  am 
sure  they  would  be  better  subjects.  It  is  not  that 
there  is  any  internal  vice  or  defect  in  the  profession 
itself,  as  regulated  in  this  country,  but  that  it  is  the 
spirit  of  this  particular  corps  to  despise  their  profes- 
sion :  and  that,  while  they  vainly  assume  the  lead  of 
the  army,  they  make  it  matter  of  impertinent  com- 
parison, and  triumph  over  the  bravest  troops  in  the 
world  (I  mean  our  marching  regiments)  that  they, 
indeed,  stand  upon  higher  ground,  and  are  privileged 
to  neglect  the  laborious  forms  of  military  discipline 
and  duty.  Without  dwelling  longer  upon  a  most 
invidious  subject,  I  shall  leave  it  to  military  men,  who 
have  seen  a  service  more  active  than  the  parade,  to 
determine  whether  or  no  I  speak  truth. 

How  far  this  dangerous  spirit  has  been  encouraged 
by  government,  and  to  what  pernicious  purposes  it 
may  be  applied  hereafter,  well  deserves  our  most 
serious  consideration.  I  know,  indeed,  that,  when 
this  affair  happened,  an  affectation  of  alarm  ran 
ihrough  the  ministry.  Something  must  be  done  to 
save  appearances.  The  case  was  too  flagrant  to  be 
passed  by  absolutely  without  notice.  But  how  have 
they  acted  ?  Instead  of  ordering  the  officers  con- 
cerned (and  who,  strictly  speaking,  are  alone  guilty) 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  18$ 

to  be  put  under  arrest,  and  brought  to  trial,  they 
would  have  it  understood,  that  they  did  their  duty 
completely,  in  confining  a  serjeant  and  four  private 
soldiers,  until  they  should  be  demanded  by  the  civil 
power  :  so  that  while  the  officers,  who  ordered  or 
permitted  the  thing  to  be  done,  escaped  without  cen- 
sure, the  poor  men,  who  obeyed  these  orders,  who,  in 
a  military  view,  are  no  way  responsible  for  what  they 
did,  and  who,  for  that  reason,  have  been  discharged 
by  the  civil  magistrates,  are  the  only  objects  whom 
the  ministry  have  thought  proper  to  expose  to  pun- 
ishment. They  did  not  venture  to  bring  even  these 
men  to  a  court  martial,  because  Jiey  knew  their  evi- 
dence would  be  fatal  to  some  persons  whom  they  were 
determined  to  protect ;  otherwise,  I  doubt  not,  the 
lives  of  these  unhappy,  friendless  soldiers,  would  long 
.since  have  been  sacrificed  without  scruple,  to  the  se- 
curity of  their  guilty  officers. 

I  have  been  accused  of  endeavouring  to  inflame 
the  passions  of  the  people.  Let  me  now  appeal  to 
their  understanding.  If  there  be  any  tool  of  adminis- 
tration, daring  enough  to  deny  these  facts,  or  shame- 
less enough  to  defend  the  conduct  of  the  ministry,  let 
-him  come  forward.  I  care  not  under  what  title  he 
appears.  He  shall  find  me  ready  to  maintain  the 
truth  of  my  narrative,  and  the  justice  of  my  observa- 
tions upon  it,  at  the  hazard  of  my  utmost  credit  with 
the  public. 

Under  the  most  arbitrary  governments,  the  common 
administration  of  justice  is  suffered  to  take  its  course. 
The  subject,  though  robbed  of  his  share  in  the  legis- 
lature, is  still  protected  by  the  laws.  The  political 
freedom  of  the  English  constitution  was  once  the 


?86  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS 

pride  and  honour  of  an  Englishman.  The  civil 
equality  of  the  laws  preserved  the  property,  and  de- 
fended the  safety  of  the  subject.  Are  these  glorious 
privileges  the  birthright  of  the  people,  or  are  we  only 
tenants  at  the  will  of  the  ministry  ?  But  that  I  know 
there  is  a  spirit  of  resistance  in  the  hearts  of  my  coun- 
trymen ;  that  the}r  value  life,  not  by  its  conveniences, 
but  by  the  independence  and  dignity  of  their  condi- 
tion ;  I  should,  at  this  moment,  appeal  only  to  their 
discretion.  I  should  persuade  them  to  banish  from 
their  minds  all  memory  of  what  we  were ;  I  should 
tell  them  this  is  not  a  time  to  remember  that  we  were 
Englishmen  ;  and  give  it,  as  my  last  advice,  to  make 
some  early  agreement  with  the  minister,  that,  since 
it  has  pleased  him  to  rob  us  of  those  political  rights, 
which  once  distinguished  the  inhabitants  of  a  country 
where  honour  was  happiness,  he  would  leave  us  at 
least  the  humble,  obedient  security  of  citizens,  and 
graciously  condescend  to  protect  us  in  our  submission. 

JUNIUS. 


XXXI. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 
SIR,  November  14,  1769. 

The  variety  of  remarks  which  have  been  made 
upon  the  last  letter  of  Junius,  and  my  own  opinion 
of  the  writer,  who,  whatever  may  be  his  faults,  is  cer- 
tainly not  a  weak  man,  have  induced  me  to  examine, 
with  some  attention,  the  subject  of  that  letter.  I 
could  not  persuade  myself,  that,  while  lie  had  plenty 
oi  important  materials,  he  would  have  taken  up  a 
light   or  trifling   occasion   to    attack   the    ministry  j 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  187 

ftiuch  less  could  I  conceive,  that  it  was  his  intention 
to  ruin  the  officers  concerned  in  the  rescue  of  general 
Gansel,  or  to  injure  the  general   himself.     These  are 
little  objects,  and  can  no  way  contribute  to  the  great 
purposes  he  seems  to  have  in  view,  by   addressing 
himself  to  the  public.     Without  considering  the  orna- 
mented  style  he  has   adopted,  I  determined  to  look 
farther  into  the  matter,  before  I   decided  upon  the 
merits  of  his  letter.     The  first  step  I  took  was  to  in- 
quire into  the  truth  of  the  facts;  for,  if  these  were 
either   false  or  misrepresented,  the  most  artful  exer- 
tion of  his  understanding,   in  reasoning  upon  them, 
would  only  be  a  disgrace  to   him.     Now,  sir,  I  have 
found  every  circumstance  stated  by  Junius  to  be  lite- 
rallv  true.— General  Gansel  persuaded  the  bailiffs  to 
conduct  him  to  the  parade,  and   certainly  solicited  a 
corporal,  and  other  soldiers,  to  assist  him  in  making 
his  escape.     Captain  Dodd  did  certainly  apply   to 
captain  Garth  for  the  assistance  of  his  guard.     Cap- 
tain  Garth   declined   appearing   himself,    but   stood 
aloof,  while  the  other  took  upon  him  to  order  out  the 
king's  guard,  and  by  main  force  rescued  the  general. 
It  is  also  strictly  true,  that  the  general  was  escorted 
by  a  file  of  musqueteers  to  a  place  of  security.  These 
are  facts,  Mr.  Woodfall,  which  I  promise  you  no  gen- 
tleman in  the  guards  will  deny.     If  all  or  any  of  them 
are  false,  why  are  they  not  contradicted  by  the  parties 
themselves  ?     However  secure  against  military  cen- 
sure, they  have  yet  a  character  to  lose  ;  and,  surely, 
if  they  are  innocent,   it  is  not  beneath   them  to  pay 
some  attention  to  the  opinion  of  the  public. 

The  force  of  Junius's  observations  upon  these  facts 
cannot  be  better  marked,  than  by  stating  and  refuting 
the  objections  which  have  been  tnnde  to  them.     One 


iS8  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

writer  says,  "  Admitting-  the  officers  have  offended, 
they  are  punishable  at  common  law  ;  and  will  you 
have  a  British  subject  punished  twice  for  the  same 
«ffence  ?"  I  answer,  that  they  have  committed  tw'o 
offences,  both  very  enormous,  and  violated  two  laws; 
The  rescue  is  one  offence,  the  flagrant  breach  of  dis- 
cipline another ;  and  hitherto  it  does  not  appear  that 
they  have  been  punished,  or  even  censured  for  either. 
Another  gentleman  lays  much  stress  upon  the  calami- 
ty of  the  case ;  and,  instead  of  disproving  facts,  ap- 
peals at  once  to  the  compassion  of  the  public.  This 
idea,  as  well  as  the  insinuation,  that,  depriving  tht 
parties  of  their  commissions  would  be  an  injury  to 
their  creditors,  can  only  refer  to  general  Gansel. 
The  other  officers  are  in  no  distress;  therefore,  have  no 
claim  to  compassion  :  nor  does  it  appear  that  their 
creditors,  if  they  have  any,  are  more  likely  to  be. 
satisfied  by  their  continuing  in  the  guards.  But  this 
sort  of  plea  will  not  hold  in  any  shape.  Compassion  to 
an  offender,  who  has  grossly  violated  the  laws,  is,  in  ef- 
fect, a  cruelty  to  the  peaceable  subject  who  has  observ- 
ed them  :  and,  even  admitting  the  force  of  any  alleviat- 
ing circumstances,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that,  in  this 
instance,  the  royal  compassion  has  interposed  too  soon. 
The- legal  and  proper  mercy  of  a  king  of  England  may 
remit  the  punishment,  but  ought  not  to  stop  the  trial. 
Besides  these  particular  objections,  there  has  been 
a  cry  raised  against  Junius,  for  his  malice  and  injus- 
tice in  attacking  the  ministry  upon  an  event  which 
they  could  neither  hinder  nor  foresee.  This,  I  must 
affirm,  is  a  false  representation  of  his  argument.  He 
lays  no  stress  upon  the  event  itself,  as  a  ground  of 
accusation  against  the  ministry,  but  dwells  entirely 
upon  their  subsequent  conduct.     He  does  not  say  that 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  18» 

they  are  answerable  for  the  offence,  but  for  the  scan- 
dalous neglect  of  their  duty,  in  suffering  an  offence  so 
flagrant  to  pass  by  without  notice  or  inquiry.  Sup- 
posing them  ever  so  regardless  of  what  they  owe  to 
Ihe  public,  and  as  indifferent  about  the  opinion,  as 
they  are  about  the  interests  of  their  country,  what  an- 
swer, as  officers  of  the  crown,  will  they  give  to  Junius, 
when  he  asks  them,  "  Are  they  aware  of  the  outrage 
offered  to  their  sovereign,  when  his  own  proper  guard 
Js  ordered  out  to  stop,  by  main  force,  the  execution 
of  his  laws  ?"  And  when  we  see  a  ministry  giving 
such  a  strange,  unaccountable  protection  to  the  officers 
of  the  guards%  is  it  unfair  to  suspect  that  they  have 
some  secret  and  unwarrantable  motives  for  their  con- 
duct? If  they  feel  themselves  injured  by  such  a  sus- 
picion, why  do  tlpey  not  immediately  clear  themselves 
from  it  by  doing  their  duty  ?  For  the  honour  of  the 
guards,  I  cannot  help  expressing  another  suspicion, 
that  if  the  commanding  officer  had  not  received  a 
secret  injunction  to  the  contrary,  he  would,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  his  business,  have  applied  for  a 
court  martial  to  try  the  two  subalterns ;  the  one  for 
quitting  his  guard,  the  other  for  taking  upon  him  the 
command  of  the  guard,  and  employing  it  in  the  man- 
ner he  did.  I  do  not  mean  to  enter  into,  or  defend,, 
the  severity  with  which  Junius  treats  the  guards.  On 
the  contrary,  I  will  suppose,  for  a  moment,  that  they 
deserve  a  very  different  character.  If  this  be  true,  in 
what  light  will  they  consider  the  conduct  of  the  two 
subalterns,  but  as  a  general  reproach  and  disgrace  to 
the  whole  corps?  And  will  they  not  wish  to  see  them 
censured,  in  a  military  way,  if  it  were  only  for  the 
credit  and  discipline  of  the  regiment  ? 

Upon  the  whole,  sir,  the  ministry  seem  to  me  to 


196  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

have  taken  a  very  improper  advantage  of  the  good- 
nature of  the  public,  whose  humanity,  they  found, 
considered  nothing  in  this  affair  but  the  distress  of 
general  Gansel.  They  would  persuade  us,  that  it 
was  only  a  common  rescue  by  a  few  disorderly 
soldiers,  and  not  the  formal,  deliberate  act  of  the 
king's  guard,  headed  by  an  officer ;  and  the  public 
has  fallen  into  the  deception.  I  think,  therefore,  we 
are  obliged  to  Junius  for  the  care  he  has  taken  to 
inquire  into  the  facts,  and  for  the  just  commentary 
with  which  he  has  given  them  to  the  world.  For 
my  own  part,  I  am  as  unwilling  as  any  man  to  load 
the  unfortunate  j  but  really,  sir,  the  precedent  with 
respect  to  the  guards,  is  of  a  most  important  nature, 
and  alarming  enough  (considering  the  consequences 
with  which  it  may  be  attended)  to  deserve  a  parlia- 
mentary inquiry.  When  the  guards  are  daring 
enough,  not  only  to  violate  their  own  discipline,  but 
publicly,  and,  with  the  most  atrocious  violence,  to 
stop  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  when  such  extra- 
ordinary offences  pass  with  impunity,  believe  me,  sir, 
the  precedent  strikes  deep. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XXXII. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  November  15,  1769 . 

I  admit  the  claim  of  a  gentleman,  who  publishes  in 
the  Gazetteer  under  the  name  of  Modestus.  He  has 
some  right  to  expect  an  answer  from  me ;  though, 
I  think,  not  so  much  from  the  merit  or  importance 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  191 

of  his  objections,  as  from  my  own  voluntary  engage- 
ment. I  had  a  reason  for  not  taking  notice  of  him 
sooner,  which,  as  he  is  a  candid  person,  I  believe,  he 
will  think  sufficient.  In  my  first  letter,  I  took  for 
granted,  from  the  time  which  had  elapsed,  that  there 
was  no  intention  to  censure,  or  even  to  try,  the  per- 
sons concerned  in  the  rescue  of  general  Gansel :  but 
Modestus  having  since  either  affirmed,  or  strongly  in- 
sinuated, that  the  offenders  might  6till  be  brought  to 
a  legal  trial,  any  attempt  to  prejudge  the  cause,  or  to 
prejudice  the  minds  of  a  jury,  or  a  court-martial, 
would  be  highly  improper. 

A  man  more  hostile  to  the  ministry  than  I  am,  would 
not  so  often  remind  them  of  their  duty.  If  the  duke 
of  Grafton  will  not  perform  the  duty  of  his  station, 
why  is  he  minister  ?  I  will  not  descend  to  a  scurrilous 
altercation  with  any  man ;  but  this  is  a  subject  too 
important  to  be  passed  .over  with  silent  indifference. 
If  the  gentlemen,  whose  conduct  is  in  question,  are 
not  brought  to  a  trial,  the  duke  of  Grafton  shall  hear 
from  me  again. 

The  motives  on  which  I  am  supposed  to  have  taken 
up  this  cause,  are  of  little  importance,  compared  with 
the  facts  themselves,  and  the  observations  I  have  made 
upon  them.  Without  a  vain  profession  of  integrity, 
which  in  these  times  might  justly  be  suspected,  I  shall 
show  myself,  in  effect,  a  friend  to  the  interests  of  my 
countrymen;  and  leave  it  to  them  to  determine, 
whether  I  am  moved  by  a  personal  malevolence  to 
three  private  gentlemen,  or  merely  by  a  hope  of 
perplexing  the  ministry;  or  whether  I  am  animated 
by  a  just  and  honourable  purpose  of  obtaining  a  satis- 
faction to  the  laws  of  this  country,  equal,  if  possible, 
to  the  violation  they  have  suffered.  JUNIUS. 


V32  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

XXXIII. 

To  Ms   Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  November   29,  1769. 

Though  my  opinion  of  your  grace's  integrity  was 
but  little  affected  by  the  coyness  with  which  you  re- 
ceived Mr.  Vaughan's  proposals,  I  confess  I  give  you 
some  credit  for  your  discretion.  You  had  a  fair  op- 
portunity of  displaying  a  certain  delicac}7,  of  which 
you  had  not  been  suspected,  and  you  were  in  the  right 
to  make  use  of  it.  By  laying  in  a  moderate  stock  at 
reputation,  you  undoubtedly  meant  to  provide  for  the 
future  necessities  of  your  character,  that,  with  an 
honourable  resistance  upon  record,  you  might  safely 
indulge  your  genius,  and  yield  to  a  favourite  inclina- 
tion with  security.  But  you  have  discovered  your 
purposes  too  soon;  and,  instead  of  the  modest  reserve 
of  virtue,  have  shown  us  the  termagant  chastity  of  a 
prude,  who  gratifies  her  passions  with  distinction,  and 
prosecutes  one  lover  for  a  rape,  while  she  solicits  the 
lewd  embraces  of  another. 

Your  cheek  turns  pale  :  for  a  guilty  conscience  tells 
you,  you  are  undone.  Come  forward,  thou  virtuous 
minister,  and  tell  the  world  by  what  interest  Mr.  Hine 
has  been  recommended  to  so  extraordinary  a  mark  of 
his  majesty's  favour ;  what  was  the  price  of  the  patent 
he  has  bought,  and  to  what  honourable  purpose  the 
purchase-money  has  been  applied.  Nothing  less  than 
many  thousands  could  pay  colonel  Burgoyne's  ex- 
penses at  Preston.  Do  you  dare  to  prosecute  such  a 
creature  as  Vaughan,  while  you  are  basely  setting  up 
the  royal  patronage  to  auction?  Do  you  dare  to 
complain  of  an  attack  upon  your  own  honour,  while 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  193 

^ou  are  selling  the  favours  of  the  crown,  to  raise  a 
fund  for  corrupting  the  morals  of  the  people  ?  And 
do  you  think  it  is  possible  such  enormities  should  es- 
cape without  impeachment  ?  It  is,  indeed,  highly  your 
interest  to  maintain  the  present  house  of  commons. 
Having  sold  the  nation  to  you  in  gross,  they  will  un- 
doubtedly protect  you  in  the  detail ;  for,  while  they  pat- 
ronise your  crimes,  they  feel  for  their  own.    JUNIUS, 

XXXIV. 

To  his   Grace  the   Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  December  12,  1769. 

I  find,  with  some  surprise,  that  you  are  not  sup- 
ported as  you  deserve.  Your  most  determined  advo- 
cates have  scruples  about  them,  which  you  are  unac- 
quainted with  ;  and  though  there  be  nothing  too 
hazardous  for  your  grace  to  engage  in,  there  are  some 
things  too  infamous  for  the  vilest  prostitute  of  a  news- 
paper to  defend.*  In  what  other  manner  shall  we 
account  for  the  profound,  submissive  silence  which 
you  and  your  friends  have  observed  upon  a  charge 
which  called  immediately  for  the  clearest  refutation, 
and  would  have  justified  the  severest  measures  of  re- 
sentment .?  I  did  not  attempt  to  blast  your  charac- 
ter by  an  indirect,  ambiguous  insinuation  ;  but  can- 
didly stated  to  you  a  plain  fact,  which  struck  directly 

*  From  the  publication  of  the  preceding  to  this  date,  not 
one  word  was  said  in  defence  of  the  duke  of  Grafton. 
But  vice  and  impudence  soon> recovered  themselves,  and  the 
sale  of  the  royal  favour  was  openly  avowed  and  defended. 
We  acknowledge  the  piety  of  St.  James's,  but  what  is  be- 
come of  its  morality  ? 
VOL.  X.  1  13 


i9-i  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

at  the  integrity  of  a  privy-counsellor,  of  a  first  com- 
missioner of  the  treasury,  and  of  a  leading  minister, 
who  is  supposed  to  enjoy  the  first  share  in  his  majes- 
ty's confidence.*     In  every  one  of  these  capacities  I 
employed  the  most  moderate  terms  to  charge  you 
with  treachery  to  your  sovereign,  and  breach  of  trust 
in  your  office.     I  accused  you  of  having  sold  a  patent 
place  in  the  collection  of  the  customs  at  Exeter  to 
one  Mr.  Hine,  who,  unable  or  unwilling  to  deposit 
the  whole  purchase-money  himself,  raised  part  of  it 
by  contribution,  and  has  now  a  certain  doctor  Brooke 
quartered  upon  the  salary  for  one  hundred  pounds  a 
year.     No  sale  by  the  candle  was  ever  conducted  with 
greater  formality.     I  affirm,   that  the  price  at  which 
the  place  was  knocked  down  (and  which,  I  have  good 
reason  to  think,  was  not  less  than  three  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds)  was,  with  your  connivance  and  con- 
sent,  paid  to  colonel  Burgoyne,  to  reward  him,  I 
presume,  for  the  decency  of  his  deportment  at  Pres- 
ton; or  to  reimburse  him,  perhaps,  for  the  fine  of  one 
thousand  pounds,  which,  for  that  very  deportment, 
the  court  of  king's  bench  thought  proper  to  set  upon 
him.     It  is  not  often  that  the  chief  justice  and  the 
prime  minister  are  so  strangely  at  variance  in  their 
opinions  of  men  and  things. 

I  thank  God,  there  is  not  in  human  nature  a  de- 
gree of  impudence  daring  enough  to  deny  the  charge 
I  have  fixed  upon  you.  Your  courteous  secretary,t 
your  confidential  architect,*  are  silent  as  the  grave, 

*  And  by  the  same  means  preserves  it  to  this  hour. 
t  Tommy  Bradshaw. 

t  Mr.  Taylor.  He  and  George  Ross  (the  Scotch  agent  and 
worthy  confidant  of  lord  Mansfield)  managed  the  business. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  195 

Even  Mr.  Rigby's  countenance  fails  him.  He  vio- 
lates his  second  nature,  and  blushes  whenever  he 
speaks  of  you.  Perhaps  the  noble  colonel  himself 
will  relieve  you.  No  man  is  more  tender  of  his  repu- 
tation. He  is  not  only  nice,  but  perfectly  sore,  in 
every  thing  that  touches  his  honour.  If  any  man. 
for  example,  were  to  accuse  him  of  taking  his  stand 
at  a  gaming-table,  and  watching,  with  the  soberest 
attention,  for  a  fair  opportunity  of  engaging  a  drunken 
young  nobleman  at  piquet,  he  would,  undoubtedly, 
consider  it  as  an  infamous  aspersion  upon  his  charac- 
ter, and  resent  it  like  a  man  of  honour.  Acquitting 
him,  therefore,  of  drawing  a  regular  and  splendid 
subsistence  from  any  unworthy  practices,  either  in 
his  own  house,  or  elsewhere,  let  me  ask  your  grace, 
for  what  military  merits  you  have  been  pleased  to  re- 
ward him  with  military  government  ?  He  had  a 
regiment  of  dragoons,  which,  one  would  imagine,  was 
at  least  an  equivalent  for  any  services  he  ever  per- 
formed. Besides,  he  is  but  a  young  officer,  consider- 
ing his  preferment;  and,  except  in  his  activity  at 
Preston,  not  very  conspicuous  in  his  profession.  But 
it  seems  the  sale  of  a  civil  employment  was  not  suffi- 
cient ;  and  military  governments,  which  were  intended 
for  the  support  of  worn-out  veterans,  must  be  thrown 
into  the  scale,  to  defray  the  extensive  bribery  of  a 
contested  election.  Are  these  the  steps  you  take  to 
secure  to  your  sovereign  the  attachment  of  his  army  ? 
With  what  countenance  dare  you  appear  in  the  royal 
presence,  branded,  as  you  are,  with  the  infamy  of  a 
notorious  breach  of  trust  ?  With  what  countenance 
can  you  take  your  seat  at  the  treasury-board,  or  in 
the  council,  when  you  feel  that  every  circulating 
whisper  is  at  your  expense  alone,  and  stabs  you  to  the 


196  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

^ieart  ?  Have  you  a  single  friend  in  parliament  so 
Shameless,  so  thoroughly  abandoned,  as  to  undertake 
your  defence  ?  You  know,  my  lord,  that  there  is  not 
a  man  in  either  house,  whose  character,  however  fla 
gitious,  would  not  be  ruined  b}T  mixing  his  reputation 
with  yours  ;  and  does  not  your  heart  inform  you  that 
you  are  degraded  below  the  condition  of  a  man,  when 
you  are  obliged  to  bear  these  insults  with  submission, 
and  even  to  thank  me  for  my  moderation  ? 

We  are  told,  by  the  highest  judicial  authority,  that 
Mr.  Vaughan's*  offer  to  purchase  the  reversion  of  a 

*  A  little  before  the  publication  of  this  and  the  preceding 
letter,  the  duke  of  Grafton  had  commenced  a  prosecution 
against  Mr.  Samuel  Yaughan,  for  endeavouring  to  corrupt 
his  integrity,  by  an  offer  of  five  thousand  pounds  for  a  pa- 
tent place  in  Jamaica.     A  rule  to  show  cause  why  an  infor- 
mation should  not  be  exhibited  against  Yaughan  for  certain 
misdemeanors,  being  granted  by  the  court  of  king's  bench, 
the  matter  was  solemnly  argued  on  the  27th  of  November, 
1769,  and  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  four  judges,  the 
rule  was  made  absolute.     The  pleadings  and  speeches  were 
accurately  taken  in  short-hand,  and  published.     The  whole 
of  lord  Mansfield's  speech,  and  particularly  the  following 
extracts  from  it,  deserve  the  reader's  attention  :    "  A  prac- 
tice of  the  kind  complained  of  here,  is  certainly  dishonour- 
able and  scandalous.     If  a  man,  standing  under  the  relation, 
of  an  officer  under  the  king,  or  of  a  person  in  whom  the 
king  puts  confidence,  or  of  a  minister,  takes  money  for  the 
use  of  that  confidence  the  king  puts  in  him,  he  basely  be- 
trays the  king ;  he  basely  betrays  his  trust.     If  the  king 
sold  the  office,  it  would  be  acting  contrary  to  the  trust  the 
constitution  had   reposed  in  him.     The  constitution  does 
not  intend  the  crown  should  sell  those  offices  to  raise  a  re- 
venue out  of  them.     Is  it  possible  to  hesitate,  whether  this 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  m 

patent  place  in  Jamaica  (which  he  was  otherwise  suf- 
ficiently entitled  to)  amounts  to  a  high  misdemeanor. 
Be  it  so  :  and  if  he  deserves  it,  let  him  be  punished. 
But  the  learned  judge  might  have  had  a  fairer  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  the  powers  of  his  eloquence. 
Having  delivered  himself,  with  so  much  energy,  upon 
the  criminal  nature  and  dangerous  consequences  of 
any  attempt  to  corrupt  a  man  in  your  grace's  station, 
what  would  he  have  said  to  the  minister  himself,  to 
that  very  privy  counsellor,  to  that  first  commissioner 
of  the  treasury,  who  does  not  wait  for,  but  impatiently 
solicits,  the  touch  of  corruption ;  who  employs  the 
meanest  of  his  creatures  in  these  honourable  services; 
and,  forgetting  the  genius  and  fidelity  of  his  secretary, 
descends  to  apply  to  his  house-builder  for  assistance  ? 
This  affair,  my  lord,  will  do  infinite  credit  to  gov- 
ernment, if,  to  clear  your  character,  you  should  think 
proper  to  bring  it  into  the  house  of  lords,  or  into  the 
court  of  king's  bench.  But.  my  lord,  you  dare  not 
do  either.  JUNIUS. 

would  not  be  criminal  in  the  duke  of  Grafton ;  contrary  to 
his  duty  as  a  privy  counsellor,  contrary  to  his  duty  as  a  min- 
ister, contrary  to  his  duty  as  a  subject  ?  His  advice  should 
he  free,  according  to  his  judgment.  It  is  the  duty  of  his 
office  ;  he  hath  sworn  to  it."  Notwithstanding  all  this,  the 
duke  of  Grafton  certainly  sold  a  patent  place  to  Mr.  Hine, 
R»r  three  thousand  five  hundred  pounds.  If  the  house  of 
commons  had  done  their  duty,  and  impeached  the  duke  for 
this  breach  of  trust,  how  wofully  must  poor  honest  Mans- 
field have  been  puzzled  !  His  embarrassment  would  have 
afforded  the  most  ridiculous  scene  that  was  ever  exhibited. 
To  save  the  judge  from  this  perplexity,  and  the  duke  from 
impeachment,  the  prosecution  against  Yaughan  was  imme- 
diately dropped. 


(98  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 


XXXV. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  December  19,  1769- 

When  the  complaints  of  a  brave  and  powerful 
people  are  observed  to  increase  in  proportion  to  the 
wrongs  they  have  suffered ;  when,  instead  of  sinking 
into  submission,  they  are  roused  to  resistance,  the 
time  will  soon  arrive,  at  which  every  inferior  con- 
sideration must  yield  to  the  security  of  the  sovereign, 
and  to  the  general  safety  of  the  state.  There  is  a 
moment  of  difficulty  and  danger,  at  which  flattery  and 
falsehood  can  no  longer  deceive,  and  simplicity  itself 
can  no  longer  be  misled.  Let  us  suppose  it  arrived: 
let  us  suppose  a  gracious,  well-intentioned  prince  made 
sensible,  at  last,  of  the  great  duty  he  owes  to  his  peo- 
ple, and  of  his  own  disgraceful  situation :  that  he  looks 
round  him  for  assistance,  and  asks  for  no  advice,  but 
how  to  gratify  the  wishes  and  secure  the  happiness  of 
his  subjects.  In  these  circumstances,  it  may  be  mat- 
ter of  curious  speculation  to  consider,  if  an  honest 
man  were  permitted  to  approach  a  king,  in  what  terms 
he  would  address  himself  to  his  sovereign.  Let  it  be 
imagined,  no  matter  how  improbable,  that  the  first 
prejudice  against  his  character  is  removed  ;  that  the 
ceremonious  difficulties  of  an  audience  are  surmount- 
ed; that  he  feels  himself  animated  by  the  purest  and 
most  honourable  affections  to  his  king  and  country  : 
and  that  the  great  person  whom  he  addresses,  has 
spirit  enough  to  bid  him  speak  freely,  and  under- 
standing enough  to  listen  to  him  with  attention.  Un- 
acquainted with  the  vain  impertinence  of  forms,  he 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  199 

would  deliver  his  sentiments  with  dignity  and  firm- 
ness, but  not  without  respect. 

Sir,— It  is  the  misfortune  of  your  life,  and  origi- 
nally the  cause  of  every  reproach  and  distress  which 
has  attended  your  government,  that  you  should  never 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  language  of  truth,  un- 
til you  heard  it  in  the  complaints  of  your  people,  h 
is  not,  however,  too  late  to  correct  the  error  of  your 
education.  We  are  still  inclined  to  make  an  indul- 
gent allowance  for  the  pernicious  lessons  you  received 
in  your  youth,  and  to  form  the  most  sanguine  hopes 
from  the  natural  benevolence  of  your  disposition.* 

*  The  plan  of  the  tutelage  and  future  dominion  over  the 
heir  apparent,  laid  many  years  ago,  at  Carlton-House,  be- 
tween the  princess  dowager  and  her  favourite,  the  earl  ol 
Bute,  was  as  gross  and  palpable  as  that  which  was  concerted 
between  Anne  of  Austria  and  cardinal  Mazarine,  to  govern 
Louis  the  Fourteenth,  and,  in  effect,  to  prolong  his  minori- 
ty until  the  end  of  their  lives.     That  prince  had  strong; 
natural  p-irts,  and  used  frequently  to  blush  for  his  own  ig- 
norance and  want  of  education,  which  had   been  wilfully 
neglected  by  his  mother  and  her  minion.     A  little  experi- 
ence, however,  soon  showed  him  how  shamefully  he  had  been 
treated,  and  for  what  infamous  purposes  he  had  been  kept 
in  ignorance.     Our  great  Edward,  too,  at  an  early  period, 
had  sense  enough  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  connex- 
ion between  his  abandoned  mother  and  the  detested  Mor- 
timer.    But,  since  that  time,  human  nature,  we  may  ob- 
serve, is  greatly  altered  for  the  better.     Dowagers  may  be 
chaste,  and  minions  may  be  honest.    When  it  was  proposed 
to  settle  the  present  king's  household,  as  prince  of  Wales, 
it  is  well  known  that  the  earl  of  Bute  was  forced  into  it,  in 
direct  contradiction  to  the  late  king's  inclination.     That  was 
the  salient  point  from  which  all  tin1  mischiefs  and  disgraces 


200  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

We  are  far  from  thinking  you  capable  of  a  direct,  de- 
liberate purpose  to  invade  those  original  rights  of 
your  subjects,  on  which  all  their  civil  and  political 
liberties  depend.  Had  it  been  possible  for  us  to  en- 
tertain a  suspicion  so  dishonourable  to  your  charac- 
ter, we  should  long  since  have  adopted  a  style  of  re- 
monstrance very  distant  from  the  humility  of  com- 
plaint. The  doctrine  inculcated  by  our  laws,  That 
the  king  can  do  no  wrong,  is  admitted  without  reluc- 
tance. We  separate  the  amiable,  good-natured  prince 
from  the  folly  and  treachery  of  his  servants,  and  the 
private  virtues  of  the  man  from  the  vices  of  his 
government.  Were  it  not  for  this  just  distinction,  I 
know  not  whether  your  majesty's  condition,  or  that 
of  the  English  nation,  would  deserve  most  to  be  la- 
mented. I  would  prepare  your  mind  for  a  favoura- 
ble reception  of  truth,  by  removing  every  painful, 
offensive  idea  of  personal  reproach.  Your  subjects, 
sir,  wish  for  nothing,  but  that,  as  they  are  reasonable 
and  affectionate  enough  to  separate  your  person  from 
your  government,  so  you,  in  your  turn,  should  distin- 
guish between  the  conduct  which  becomes  the  perma- 
nent dignity  of  a  king,  and  that  which  serves  only  to 
promote  the  temporary  interest  and  miserable  ambi- 
tion of  a  minister. 

You  ascended  the  throne  with  a  declared,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  a  sincere  resolution  of  giving  universal 
satisfaction  to  your  subjects.  You  found  them  pleased 
with  the  novelty  of  a  young  prince,  whose  countenance 
promised  even  more  than  his  words;  and  loyal  to  you. 

of  the  present  reign  took  life  and  motion.  From  that  mo- 
ment, lord  Bute  never  suffered  the  prince  of  Wales  to  be  an 
instant  out  of  his  si'jlit.     We  need  not  look  farther. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  20! 

not  only  from  principle,  but  passion.  It  was  not  a 
cold  profession  of  allegiance  to  the  first  magistrate, 
but  a  partial,  animated  attachment  to  a  favourite 
prince,  the  native  of  their  country.  They  did  not 
wait  to  examine  your  conduct,  nor  to  be  determined 
by  experience,  but  gave  yon  a  generous  credit  for 
the  future  blessings  of  your  reign,  and  paid  you  in 
advance  the  dearest  tribute  of  their  affections.  Such, 
sir,  was  once  the  disposition  of  a  people,  who  now 
surround  your  throne  with  reproaches  and  complaints. 
Do  justice  to  yourself.  Banish  from  your  mind  those 
unworthy  opinions,  with  which  some  interested  per- 
sons have  laboured  to  possess  you.  Distrust  the  men 
who  tell  you  that  the  English  are  naturally  light  and 
inconstant;  that  they  complain  without  a  cause. 
Withdraw  your  confidence  equally  from  all  parties ; 
from  ministers,  favourites,  and  relations ;  and  let  there 
be  one  moment  in  your  life,  in  which  you  have  con- 
sulted your  own  understanding. 

When  you  affectedly  renounced  the  name  of  En- 
glishman, believe  me,  sir,  you  were  persuaded  to  pay 
a  very  ill-judged  compliment  to  one  part  of  your  sub- 
jects, at  the  expense  of  another.  While  the  natives 
of  Scotland  are  not  in  actual  rebellion,  they  are  un- 
doubtedly entitled  to  protection :  nor  do  I  mean  to 
condemn  the  policy  of  giving  some  encouragement  to 
the  novelty  of  their  affections  for  tlie  house  of  Hano- 
ver. I  am  ready  to  hope  for  every  thing  from  their 
new-born  zeal,  and  from  the  future  steadiness  of  their 
allegiance;  but,  hitherto,  they  have  no  claim  to  your 
favour.  To  honour  them  with  a  determined  predi- 
lection and  confidence,  in  exclusion  of  your  English 
subjects,  who  placed  your  family,  and,  in  spite  of 
treachery  and  rebellion,  have  supported  it  upon  the 

1  2 


202  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

throne,  is  a  mistake  too  gross  even  for  the  unsuspect- 
ing generosity  of  youth.  In  this  error  we  see  a  capi- 
tal violation  of  the  most  obvious  rules  of  policy  and 
prudence.  We  trace  it,  however,  to  an  original  bias 
in  your  education,  and  are  ready  to  allow  for  your 
inexperience. 

To  the  same  early  influence  we  attribute  it,  that 
you  have  descended  to  take  a  share,  not  only  in  the 
narrow  views  and  interests  of  particular  persons,  but 
in  the  fatal  malignity  of  their  passions.  At  your  ac- 
cession to  the  throne,  the  whole  system  of  government 
was  altered,  not  from  wisdom  or  deliberation,  but 
because  it  had  been  adopted  by  your  predecessor.  A 
little  personal  motive  of  pique  and  resentment  was 
sufficient  to  remove  the  ablest  servants  of  the  crown  f 
but  it  is  not  in  this  country,  sir,  that  such  men  can 
be  dishonoured  by  the  frowns  of  a  king.  They  were 
dismissed,  but  could  not  be  disgraced.  Without  en- 
tering into  a  minuter  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the 
peace,  we  may  observe,  in  the  imprudent  hurry  with 
which  the  first  overtures  from  France  were  accepted, 
in  the  conduct  of  the  negotiation,  and  terms  of  the 
treaty,  the  strongest  marks  of  that  precipitate  spirit 
of  concession,  with  which  a  certain  part  of  your  sub- 
jects have  been  at  all  times  ready  to  purchase  a  peace 
with  the  natural  enemies  of  this  country.  .  On  your 
part  we  are  satisfied  that  every  thing  was  honourable 
and  sincere ;  and,  if  England  was  sold  to  France,  we 

*  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  present  reign  was  to  dismiss 
Mr.  Legge,  because  he  had,  some  years  before,  refused  to 
yield  his  interest  in  Hampshire  to  a  Scotchman,  recom- 
mended by  lord  Bute.  This  was  the  reason  publicly  assigned 
by  his  lordship. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  203 

doubt  not  that  jour  majesty  was  equally  betrayed. 
The  conditions  of  the  peace  were  matter  of  grief  and 
surprise  to  your  subjects,  but  not  the  immediate  cause 
of  their  present  discontent. 

Hitherto,  sir,  you  had  been  sacrificed  to  tiie  preju- 
dices and  passions  of  others.  With  what  firmness 
will  you  bear  the  mention  of  your  own  ? 

A  man  not  very  honourably  distinguished  in  the 
world,  commences  a  formal  attack  upon  your  favour- 
ite, considering  nothing  but  how  he  might  best  expose 
his  person  and  principles  to  detestation,  and  the  na- 
tional character  of  his  countrymen  to  contempt.  The 
natives  of  that  country,  sir,  are  as  much  distinguished 
by  a  peculiar  character,  as  by  your  majesty's  favour. 
Like  another  chosen  people,  they  have  been  conduct- 
ed into  the  land  of  plenty,  where  they  find  themselves 
effectually  marked,  and  divided  from  mankind.  There 
is  hardly  a  period  at  which  the  most  irregular  charac- 
ter may  not  be  redeemed.     The  mistakes  of  one  sex 
fiud  a  retreat  in  patriotism,  those  of  the  other  in  de- 
votion.    Mr.  Wilkes  brought  with  him  into  politics 
the  same  liberal  sentiments  by  which  his  private  con- 
duct had  been  directed  j  and  seemed  to  think,  that, 
a9  there  are  few  excesses  in  which  an  English  gentle- 
man may  not  be  permitted  to  indulge,  the  same  lati- 
tude was  allowed   him  in  the  choice  of  his  political 
principles,  and  in  the  spirit  of  maintaining  them.     I 
mean  to  state,  not  entirely  to  defend,  his  conduct.     In 
the  earnestness  of  his  zeal,  he  suffered  some  unwar- 
rantable insinuations  to  escape  him.     He  said  more 
than  moderate  men  could  justify ;  but  not  enough  to 
entitle  him  to  the  honour  of  your  majesty's  personal 
resentment.     The  rays  of  royal  indignation,  collected 
upon  him,  served  only  to  illuminate,  and  could  not 


204  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

consume.     Animated  by  the  favour  of  the  people  on 
the  one  side,  and  heated  by  persecution  on  the  other, 
his  vw?ws  and  sentiments   changed  with  his  situation. 
Hardly  serious  at  first,  he  is  now  an  enthusiast.    The 
coldest   bodies    warm    with  opposition,   the  hardest 
sparkle  in  collision.     There  is  a  holy  mistaken  zeal 
in  politics  as  well  as  religion.     By  persuading  others, 
we  convince  ourselves.     The  passions  are  engaged, 
and  create  a  maternal  affection  in  the  mind,  which 
forces  us  to  love  the  cause  for  which  we  suffer.    Is  this 
a  contention  worthy  of  a  king  ?    Are  you  not  sensible 
how  much  the  meanness  of  the  cause  gives  an  air  of 
ridicule  to  the  serious  difficulties  into  which  you  have 
been  betrayed  ?     The  destruction   of  one   man  has 
been  now,  for   many  years,  the   sole  object  of  your 
government;  and,  if  there  can  be  any  tiling  still  more 
disgraceful,  we  have  seen  for  such  an  object  the  ut- 
most influence  of  the  executive   power,   and   every 
ministerial  artifice,  exerted  without  success.    Nor  can 
you  ever  succeed,   unless  he  should   be   imprudent 
enough  to  forfeit  the  protection  of  those  laws  to  which 
you  owe  your  crown  ;  or  unless  your  minister  should 
persuade  you  to  make  it  a  question  of  fjprce  alone,  and 
try  the  whole  strength  of  government  in  opposition  to 
the  people.     The  lessons  he  has  received  from  expe- 
rience will  probably  guard  him  from  such  excess  of 
folly;  and,  in  your  majesty's  virtues,  we  find  an  un- 
questionable assurance,  that  no  illegal  violence  will 
be  attempted. 

Far  from  suspecting  you  of  so  horrible  a  design, 
we  would  attribute  the  continued  violation  of  the 
laws,  and  even  this  last  enormous  attack  upon  the  vi- 
tal principles  of  the  constitution,  to  an  ill-advised,  un- 
worthy, personal  resentment.     From  one  false  step 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  205 

you  have  been  betrayed  into  another ;  and,  as  the 
cause  was  unworthy  of  you,  your  ministers  were  deter- 
mined that  the  prudence  of  the  execution  should  cor- 
respond with  the  wisdom  and  dignity  of  the  design. 
They  have  reduced  you  to  the  necessity  of  choosing 
out  of  a  variety  of  difficulties;  to  a  situation  so  unhap- 
py, that  you  can  neither  do  wrong  without  ruin,  or 
right  without  affliction.  These  worthy  servants  have 
undoubtedly  given  you  many  singular  proofs  of  their 
abilities.  Not  contented  with  making  Mr.  Wilkes  a 
man  of  importance,  they  have  judiciously  transferred 
the  question  from  the  rights  and  interests  of  one  man, 
to  the  most  important  rights  and  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  forced  your  subjects,  from  wishing  well  to 
the  cause  of  an  individual,  to  unite  with  him  in  their 
own.  Let  them  proceed  as  they  have  begun,  and 
your  majesty  need  not  doubt  that  the  catastrophe  will 
do  no  dishonour  to  the  conduct  of  the  piece. 

The  circumstances  to  which  you  are  reduced  will 
not  admit  of  a  compromise  with  the  English  nation. 
Undecisive,  qualifying  measures  will  disgrace  your 
government  still  more  than  opes  violence;  and,  with- 
out satisfying  the  people,  will  excite  their  contempt. 
They  have  too  much  understanding  and  spirit  to  ac- 
cept of  an   Indirect  satisfaction   for   a  direct  injury. 
Nothing  less  than  a  repeal,  as  formal  as  the  resolution 
itself,  can  heal  the  wound  which  has  been  given  to  the 
constitution,  nor  will  any  thing  less  be  accepted.     I 
ran  readily  believe,  that  there  is.an  influence  sufficient 
to  recall  that  pernicious  vote.  The  house  of  commons 
undoubtedly  consider  their  duty  to  the  crown  as  para- 
mount to  all  other  obligations.     To  us  they  are  only 
indebted  for  an  accidental  existence,  and  have  justly 


206  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

transferred  their  gratitude  from  their  parents  to  their 
benefactors ;  from  those  who  gave  them  birth,  to  the 
minister,  from  whose  benevolence  they  derive  the 
comforts  and  pleasures  of  their  political  life ;  who  has 
taken  the  tenderest  care  of  their  infancy,  and  relieves 
their  necessities  without  offending  their  delicacy. 
But,  if  it  were  possible  for  their  integrity  to  be  degra- 
ded to  a  condition  so  vile  and  abject,  that,  compared 
with  it,  the  present  estimation  they  stand  in  is  a  state 
of  honour  and  respect;  consider,  sir,  in  what  manner 
you  will  afterwards  proceed.  Can  you  conceive  that 
the  people  of  this  country  will  long  submit  to  be  gov- 
erned by  so  flexible  a  house  of  commons  ?  It  is  not 
in  the  nature  of  human  society  that  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment, in  such  circumstances,  can  long  be  preserv- 
ed. In  ours,  the  general  contempt  of  the  people  is  as 
fatal  as  their  detestation.  Such,  I  am  persuaded, 
would  be  the  necessary  effect  of  any  base  concession 
made  by  the  present  house  of  commons;  and,  as  a 
qualifying  measure  would  not  be  accepted,  it  remains 
for  you  to  decide,  whether  you  will,  at  any  hazard, 
support  a  set  of  men  who  have  reduced  you  to  this 
unhappy  dilemma,  or  whether  you  will  gratify  the 
united  wishes  of  the  whole  people  of  England,  by  dis- 
solving the  parliament. 

Taking  it  for  granted,  as  I  do  very  sincerely,  that 
you  have  personally  no  design  against  the  constitu- 
tion, nor  any  view  inconsistent  with  the  good  o'l 
your  subjects,  I  think  you  cannot  hesitate  long  upon, 
the  choice  which  it  equally  concerns  your  interests 
and  your  honour  to  adopt.  On  one  side,  you  hazard 
the  affection  of  all  your  English  subjects ;  you  relin- 
quish every  hope  of  repose  to  yourself,  and  you  endan- 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  207 

ger  the  establishment  of  your  family  for  ever.  All  this 
you  venture  for  no  object  whatsoever;  or  for  such  an 
object  as  it  would  be  an  affront  to  yon  to  name.  Men 
of  sense  will  examine  your  conduct  with  suspicion  ) 
while  those,  who  are  incapable  of  comprehending  to 
what  degree  they  are  injured,  afflict  you  with  cla- 
mours equally  insolent  and  unmeaning.  Supposing 
it  possible  that  no  fatal  struggle  should  ensue,  you 
determine,  at  once,  to  be  unhappy,  without  the  hope 
of  a  compensation,  either  from  interest  or  ambition. 
If  an  English  king  be  hated  or  despised,  he  must  be 
mihappy  :  and  this,  perhaps,  is  the  only  political  truth 
which  he  ought  to  be  convinced  of,  without  experi- 
ment. But,  if  the  English  people  should  no  longer- 
confine  their  resentment  to  a  submissive  representation 
of  their  wrongs ;  if,  following  the  glorious  example  of 
their  ancestors,  they  should  no  longer  appeal  to  the 
creature  of  the  constitution,  but  to  that  high  Being 
who  gave  them  the  rights  of  humanity,  whose  gifts  it 
were  sacrilege  to  surrender,  let  me  ask  you,  sir,  upon 
what  part  of  your  subjects  would  you  rely  for  assistance? 
The  people  of  Ireland  have  been  uniformly  plun- 
dered and  oppressed.  In  return,  they  give  you  every 
day  fresh  marks  of  their  resentment.  They  despise 
the  miserable  governor*  you  have  sent  them,  because 
he  is  the  creature  of  lord  Bute  :  uor  is  it  from  any 
natural  confusion  in  their  ideas,  that  they  are  so  ready 
to  confound  the  original  of  a  king  with  the  disgrace- 
ful representation  of  him. 

*  Viscount  Townshend,  sent  over  on  the  plan  of  being  re- 
sident governor.  The  history  of  his  ridiculous  administra- 
tion shall  not  be  lost  to  the  public. 


208  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

The  distance  of  the  colonies  would  make  it  impos- 
sible for  them  to  take  an  active  concern  in  your  affairs, 
if  they  were  as  well  affected  to  your  government  as 
they  once  pretended  to  be  to  your  person.  They  were 
ready  enough  to  distinguish  between  you  and  your 
ministers.  They  complained  of  an  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, but  traced  the  origin  of  it  no  higher  than  to  the 
servants  of  the  crown  :  they  pleased  themselves  with 
the  hope  that  their  sovereign,  if  not  favourable  to  their 
cause,  at  least  was  impartial.  The  decisive  personal 
part  you  took  against  them  has  effectually  banished 
that  first  distinction  from  their  minds.*  They  consider 
you  as  united  with  your  servants  against  America  ; 
and  know  how  to  distinguish  the  sovereign  and  a  ve- 
nal parliament  on  one  side,  from  the  real  sentiments 
of  the  English  people  on  the  other.  Looking  forward 
to  independence,  they  might  possibly  receive  you  for 
their  king  :  but,  if  ever  you  retire  to  America,  be  as- 
sured they  will  give  you  such  a  covenant  to  digest  as 
the  presbytery  of  Scotland  would  have  been  ashamed 
to  offer  to  Charles  the  Second.  They  left  their  na- 
tive land  in  search  of  freedom,  and  found  it  in  a 
desert.     Divided  as  they  are  into  a  thousand  forms 


*  In  the  king's  speech  of  November  8th,  1768,  it  was  de- 
clared, "  That  the  spirit  of  faction  had  broken  out  afresh  in 
some  of  the  colonies,  and,  in  one  of  them,  proceeded  to  acts 
«f  violence  and  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  laws : 
that  Boston  was  in  a  state  of  disobedience  to  all  laws  and 
government,  and  had  proceeded  to  measures  subversive  of 
the  constitution,  and  attended  with  circumstances  that  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  throw  off  their  dependence  on  Great 
Britain." 


JUNlUS'S   LETTERS.  209 

0/  policy  and  religion,  there  is  one  point  in  which  they 
all  agree :  they  equally  detest  the  pageantry  of  a  king, 
and  the  supercilious  hypocrisy  of  a  bishop. 

It  is  not,  then,  from  the  alienated  affections  of 
Ireland  or  America  that  you  can  reasonably  look  for 
assistance ;  still  less  from  the  people  of  England,  -who 
are  actually  contending  for  their  rights,  and  in  this 
great  question  are  parties  against  you.  You  are  not, 
however,  destitute  of  every  appearance  of  support ; 
you  have  all  the  Jacobites,  Non-jurors,  -Roman 
Catholics,  and  Tories  of  this  country,  and  all  Scot- 
land, without  exception.  Considering  from  what 
family  you  are  descended,  the  choice  of  your  friends 
has  been  singularly  directed ;  and  truly,  sir,  if  you  had 
not  lost  the  Whig  interest  of  England,  I  should  admire 
your  dexterity  in  turning  the  hearts  of  your  enemies., 
Is  it  possible  for  you  to  place  any  confidence  in  men* 
who,  before  they  are  faithful  to  you,  must  renounce 
every  opinion,  and  betray  every  principle,  both  in 
church  and  state,  which  they  inherit  from  their  ances- 
tors, and  are  confirmed  in  by  their  education  ?  whose 
numbers  are  so  inconsiderable,  that  they  have  long 
since  been  obliged  to  give  up  the  principles  and  lan- 
guage which  distinguish  them  as  a  party,  and  to  fight 
under  the  banners  of  their  enemies  ?  Their  zeal  be- 
gins with  hypocrisy,  and  must  conclude  in  treachery. 
At  first  they  deceive — at  last  they  betray. 

As  to  the  Scotch,  I  must  suppose  your  heart  and 
understanding  so  biassed,  from  your  earliest  infancy, 
in  their  favour,  that  nothing  less  than  your  own  mis- 
fortunes can  undeceive  you.  You  will  not  accept  of 
the  uniform  experience  of  your  ancestors  ;  and,  when 

once  a  man  is  determined  to  believe,  the  very  absur- 

14 


210  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

dity  of  the  doctrine  confirms  him  in  his  faith.     A  big^ 
otted  understanding  can  draw  a  proof  of  attachment 
Co  the  house  of  Hanover,  from  a  notorious  zeal  for  the 
house  of  Stuart,  and  find  an  earnest  of  future  loyalty 
hi  former  rebellions.     Appearances  are,  however,  in 
their    favour :  so   strongly,  indeed,   that  one  would 
think  they  had  forgotten  that  you  are  their  lawful 
king,  and  had  mistaken  you  for  a  pretender  to  the 
crown.     Let  it  be  admitted,  then,  that  the  Scotch  are 
as  sincere  in  their  present  professions,  as  if  you  were, 
in  reality,  not  an  Englishman,  but  a  Briton  of  the 
"North.     You  would  not  be  the  first  prince,  of  their 
native  country,  against  whom  they  have  rebelled,  nor 
the  first  whom  they  have  basely  betrayed.     Have  you 
forgotten,  sir,  or  has  your  favourite  concealed  from 
you,  that  part  of  our   history,    when  the  unhappy 
Charles  (and  he,  too,  had  private  virtues)  fled  from 
the  open,  avowed  indignation  of  his  English  subjects, 
and  surrended  himself  at  discretion  to  the  good  faith 
of  his  own  countrymen  ?     Without  looking  for  sup- 
port in  their  affections  as  subjects,  he  applied  only  to 
their   honour,   as  gentlemen,  for  protection.     They 
received  him,  as  they  would  your  majesty,  with  bows-, 
and  smiles,  and  falsehood;  and  kept  him,  until  they 
had  settled  their  bargain  with  the  English  parliament  ; 
then  basely  sold  their  native  king  to  the  vengeance 
©f  his  enemies.     This,  sir,  was  not  the  act  of  a  few 
traitors,  but  the  deliberate  treachery  of  a  Scotch  par- 
liament, representing  the  nation.  A  wise  prince  might 
draw  from  it  two  lessons  of  equal  utility  to  himself. 
On  one  side,  he  might  learn  to  dread  the  undisguised 
vesentment  of  a  generous  people,  who  dare  openly 
assert  their  rights,  and  who,  in  a  just  cause,  are  ready 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  211 

to  meet  their  sovereign  in  the  field.  On  the  other 
side,  he  would  be  taught  to  apprehend  something  far 
more  formidable;  a  fawning  treachery,  against  which 
no  prudence  can  guard,  no  courage  can  defend.  The 
insidious  smile  upon  the  cheek  would  warn  him  of  the 
canker  in  the  heart. 

From  the  uses  to  which  one  part  of  the  army  has 
been  too  frequently  applied,  you  have  some  reason  to 
expect  that  there  are  no  services  they  would  refuse. 
Here,  too,  we  trace  the  partiality  of  your  understand- 
ing. You  take  the  sense  of  the  army  from  the  con- 
duct of  the  guards,  with  the  same  justice  with  which 
you  collect  the  sense  of  the  people  from  the  represen- 
tations of  the  ministry.  Your  marching  regiments, 
sir,  will  not  make  the  guards  their  example,  either 
as  soldiers  or  subjects.  They  feel,  and  resent,  as  they 
ought  to  do,  that  invariable,  undistinguishing  favour 
with  which  the  guards  are  treated  ;*  while  those  gal- 
lant troops,  by  whom  every  hazardous,  every  labori- 
ous service  is  performed,  are  left  to  perish  in  garri- 
sons abroad,  or  pine  in  quarters  at  home,  neglected 
and  forgotten.     If  they  had  no  sense  of  the  great 

*  The  number  of  commissioned  officers  in  the  guards  are- 
te the  marching  regiments  as  one  to  eleven :  the  number  of 
regiments  given  to  the  guards,  compared  with  those  given  to 
the  line,  is  about  three  to  one,  at  a  moderate  computation  ; 
consequently,  the  partiality  in  favour  of  the  guards  is  as 
thirty-three  to  one.  So  much  for  the  officers.  The  private- 
men  have  four-pence  a-day  to  subsist  on,  and  five  hundred 
lashes  if  they  desert.  Under  this  punishment  they  fre- 
quently expire.  With  these  encouragements,  it  is  supposed, 
they  may  be  depended  upon,  whenever  a  certain  person 
thinks  it  necessary  to  butcher  his  fellow-subjects. 


212  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

original  duty  they  owe  their  country,  their  resentment: 
would  operate  like  patriotism,  and  leave  your  cause 
to  be  defended  by  those  on  whom  you  have  lavished 
the  rewards  and  honours  of  their  profession.  The 
praetorian  bands,  enervated  and  debauched  as  they 
were,  had  still  strength  enough  to  awe  the  Roman 
populace;  but  when  the  distant  legions  took  the  alarm, 
they  marched  to  Rome,  and  gave  away  the  empire. 

On  this  side,  then,  which  ever  way  you  turn  j'our 
eyes,  you  see  nothing  but  perplexity  and  distress.  You 
may  determine  to  support  the  very  ministry  who  have 
reduced  your  affairs  to  this  deplorable  situation;  yon 
may  shelter  yourself  under  the  forms  of  a  parliament, 
and  set  your  people  at  defiance  ;  but  be  assured,  sir, 
that  such  a  resolution  would  be  as  imprudent  as  it 
would  be  odious.  If  it  did  not  immediately  shake 
your  establishment,  it  would  rob  you  of  your  peace  of 
mind  for  ever. 

On  the  other,  how  different  is  the  prospect !  How 
easy,  how  safe  and  honourable,  is  the  path  before  you! 
The  English  nation  declare  they  are  grossly  injured 
by  their  representatives,  and  solicit  your  majesty  to 
exert  your  lawful  prerogative,  and  give  them  an  op- 
portunity of  recalling  a  trust,  which  they  find  has  been 
scandalously  abused.  You  are  not  to  be  told,  that 
fhe  power  of  the  house  of  commons  is  not  original, 
but  delegated  to  them  for  the  welfare  of  the  people, 
from  whom  they  received  it.  A  question  of  right 
arises  between  the  constituent  and  the  representative 
body.  By  what  authority  shall  it  be  decided?  Will 
your  majesty  interfere  in  a  question,  in  which  you  have, 
properly,  no  immediate  concern  ?  It  would  be  a  step 
equally  odious  and  unnecessary.     Shall  the  lords  be 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  213 

called  upon  to  determine  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  commons  ?  They  cannot  do  it,  without  a  flagrant 
breach  of  the  constitution.  Or,  will  you  refer  it  to  the 
judges  ?  They  have  often  told  your  ancestors,  that 
the  law  of  parliament  is  above  them.  What  part  then 
remains,  but  to  leave  it  to  the  people  to  determine  for 
themselves?  They  alone  are  injured;  and,  since 
there  is  no  superior  power  to  which  the  cause  can  be 
referred,  they  alone  ought  to  determine. 

I  do  not  mean  to  perplex  you  with  a  tedious  argu- 
ment upon  a  subject,  already  so  discussed,  that  inspira- 
tion could  hardly  throw  a  new  light  upon  it.     There 
are,  however,  two  points  of  view  in  which  it  particu- 
larly imports  your  majesty  to  consider  the  late  pro- 
ceedings of  the  house  of  commons.     By  depriving  a 
subject  of  his  birth-right,  they  have  attributed  to  their 
own  vote  an  authority  equal  to  an  act  of  the  whole 
legislature ;  and  though,  perhaps,  not  with  the  same 
motives,  have  strictly  followed  the  example  of  the  long 
parliament,   which  first  declared  the  regal  office  use- 
jess,  and  soon  after,  with  as  little  ceremony,  dissolved 
the  house  of  lords.    The  same  pretended  power  which 
robs  an  English  subject  of  his  birth-right,  may  rob  an 
English   king  of  his  crown.     In  another  view,   the 
resolution  of  the  house  of  commons,  apparently  not 
so  dangerous  to  your  majesty,  is  still  more  alarming 
to  your   people.     Not  contented  with  divesting  one 
man  of  his  right,  they  have  arbitrarily  conveyed  that 
right  to   another.     They  have  set  aside  a  return  as 
illegal,  without  daring  to  censure  those  officers  who 
were  particularly  apprised  of  Mr.  Wilkes's  incapacity, 
not  only  by  the  declaration  of  the  house,  but  expressly 
by  the  writ  directed  to  them,  and  who,  nevertheless, 


214  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

returned  him  as  duly  elected.  They  have  rejected  the 
majority  of  votes,  the  only  criterion  by  which  our  laws 
judge  of  the  sense  of  the  people  ;  they  have  transfer- 
red the  right  of  election  from  the  collective  to  the 
representative  body  ;  and  by  these  acts,  taken  sepa- 
rately or  together,  they  have  essentially  altered  the 
original  constitution  of  the  house  of  commons.  Ver- 
sed, as  your  majesty  undoubtedly  is,  in  the  English 
history,  it  cannot  easily  escape  you,  how  much  it  is 
your  interest,  as  well  as  your  duty,  to  prevent  one  of 
the  three  estates  from  encroaching  upon  the  province 
of  the  other  two,  or  assuming  the  authority  of  them 
all.  When  once  they  have  departed  from  the  great 
constitutional  line  by  which  all  their  proceedings 
should  be  directed,  who  will  answer  for  their  future 
moderation  ?  Or  what  assurance  will  they  give  you, 
that,  when  they  have  trampled  upon  their  equals,  they 
will  submit  to  a  superior  ?  Your  majesty  may  learn 
hereafter  how  nearly  the  slave  and  tyrant  are  allied. 

Some  of  your  council,  more  candid  than  the  rest, 
admit  the  abandoned  profligacy  of  the  present  house  of 
commons,  but  oppose  their  dissolution,  upon  an  opin- 
ion, I  confess,  not  very  unwarrantable,  that  their 
successors  would  be  equally  at  the  disposal  of  the 
treasury.  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  the  nation 
will  have  profited  so  little  by  experience.  But,  if  that 
opinion  were  well  founded,  you  might  then  gratify 
our  wishes  at  an  easy  rate,  and  appease  the  present 
clamour  against  your  government,  without  offering 
any  material  injury  to  the  favourite  cause  of  corruption. 

You  have  still  an  honourable  part  to  act.  The  af- 
fections of  your  subjects  may  still  be  recovered.  But, 
before  you  subdue  their  hearts,  you  must  gain  a  noble 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  215 

victory  over  J'our  own.  Discard  those  little,  personal 
resentments,  which  have  too  long  directed  your  pub- 
lic conduct.  Pardon  this  man  the  remainder  of  his" 
punishment ;  and,  if  resentment  still  prevails,  make 
it,  what  it  should  have  been  long  since,  an  act,  not  at* 
mercy,  but  of  contempt.  He  will  soon  fall  back  into 
his  natural  station  ;  a  silent  senator,  and  hardly  sup- 
porting the  weekly  eloquence  of  a  newspaper.  The 
gentle  breath  of  peace  would  leave  him  on  the  surface., 
neglected  and  unremoved.  It  is  only  the  tempest 
that  lifts  him  from  his  place. 

Without  consulting  your  minister,  call  together 
your  whole  council.  Let  it  appear  to  the  public  that 
you  can  determine  and  act  for  yourself.  Come  for- 
ward to  your  people.  Lay  aside  the  wretched  for- 
malities of  a  king,  and  speak  to  your  subjects  with 
the  spirit  of  a  man,  and  in  the  language  of  a  gentle- 
man. Tell  them  you  have  been  fatally  deceived. 
The  acknowledgment  will  be  no  disgrace,  but  rather 
an  honour,  to  your  understanding.  Tell  them  you 
are  determined  to  remove  every  cause  of  complaint 
'against  your  government ;  that  you  will  give  youv 
confidence  to  no  man  who  does  not  possess  the  confi- 
dence of  your  subjects  ;  and  leave  it  to  themselves  to 
determine,  by  their  conduct  at  a  future  election, 
whether  or  no  it  be,  in  reality,  the  general  sense  of 
the  nation,  that  their  rights  have  been  arbitrarily  in- 
vaded by  the  present  house  of  commons,  and  the  con 
stitution  betrayed.  They  will  then  do  justice  to  their 
representatives  and  to  themselves. 

These  sentiments,  sir,  and  the  style  they  are  con- 
veyed in,  may  be  offensive,  perhaps,  because  they  are 
new  to  you.  Accustomed  to  the  language  of  courtiers, 


216  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

you  measure  their  affections  by  the  vehemence  of 
their  expressions ;  and  when  they  only  praise  you 
indifferently,  you  admire  their  sincerity.  But  this  is 
not  a  time  to  trifle  with  your  fortune.  They  deceive 
you,  sir,  who  tell  you  that  you  have  many  friends, 
whose  affections  are  founded  upon  a  principle  of  per- 
sonal attachment.  The  first  foundation  of  friendship 
is  not  the  power  of  conferring  benefits,  but  the  equal- 
ity with  which  they  are  received,  and  may  be  return- 
ed. The  fortune  which  made  you  a  king,  forbade 
you  to  have  a  friend.  It  is  a  law  of  nature,  which 
cannot  be  violated  with  impunity.  The  mistaken 
prince,  who  looks  for  friendship,  will  find  a  favourite, 
and  in  that  favourite  the  ruin  of  his  affairs. 

The  people  of  England  are  loyal  to  the  house  of 
Hanover ;  not  from  a  vain  preference  of  one  family  to 
another,  but  from  a  conviction,  that  the  establishment 
of  that  family  was  necessary  to  the  support  of  their 
civil  and  religious  liberties.  This,  sir,  is  a  principle 
of  allegiance  equally  solid  and  rational ;  fit  for  Eng- 
lishmen to  adopt,  and  well  worthy  of  your  majesty's 
encouragement.  We  cannot  long  be  deluded  by 
nominal  distinctions.  The  name  of  Stuart,  of  itself, 
is  only  contemptible ;  armed  with  the  sovereign  au- 
thority, their  principles  are  formidable.  The  prince 
who  imitates  their  conduct,  should  be  warned  by  their 
example ;  and,  while  he  plumes  himself  upon  the  secu- 
rity of  his  title  to  the  crown,  should  remember,  that, 
as  it  was  acquired  by  one  revolution,  it  may  be  lost 

by  another. 

JUNIUS. 

THE   END  OP   VOLUME   I. 


■T'TF.  :  ■    I  ! 


'IaM.. 


'! 


THE 


LETTERS  OF  JUNIUS. 


FROM  THE  LATEST  LONDON  EDITION 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


Stat  nominus  umbra. 

V 


VOL.   II. 

NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  HENRY  DURELL7 

1821 


CONTENTS. 


Letter.  Page. 

XXXVI.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton         -     ....      5 

XXXVII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     id 

XXXVIII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -    22 

XXXIX.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     30 

XL.  To  Lord  North     -        -         -  -    43 

XLI.  To  Lord  Mansfield        -         -         -         -46 

XLII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     60 

XLIII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     70 

XLIV.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     73 

XLV.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     80 

XLVI.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -     87 

XLVII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser   -     89 

XLVIII.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton  ...     93 

XLIX.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton  -         -         -98 

L.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Home  to  Junius       -         -  103 

LI.  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home  -         -         -106 

LII.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Home  to  Junius       -         -108 

LIH.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -  124 

LIV.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser  -  135 

LV.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Home  to  Junius       -        -  137 

LVI.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton         -        -        -  139 

LVII.  Addressed  to  the  Livery  of  London         -  146 

LVIII.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser   -  148 

LIX.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser   -  159 

LX.  ToZeno -  162 

LXI.  To  an  Advocate  in  the  Cause  of  the  People  168 

LXII. 170 

LXIII. 172 

LXIV.  To  Lord  Mansfield        -         -         -         -  176 

LXV.  To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser   -  177 

LXVI.  To  the  duke  of  Grafton         -        -  ibid. 

LXVJF.  To  Lord  Mansfield        -        -        -        -  182 

LXVIH.  Tu  Lord  Camden  -        -        -        -  209 


LETTERS  OF  JUNIUS. 


LETTER  XXXVI. 

To  his   Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

\IY  LORD,  February  14,  1770. 

If  I  were  personally  your  enemy,  I  might  pity  and 
forgive  you.  You  have  every  claim  to  compassion 
that  can  arise  from  misery  and  distress.  The  condi- 
tion you  are  reduced  to  would  disarm  a  private  ene- 
my of  his  resentment,  and  leave  no  consolation  to 
the  most  vindictive  spirit,  but  that  such  an  object  as 
you  are  would  disgrace  the  dignity  of  revenge.  But, 
in  the  relation  you  have  borne  to  this  country,  you 
have  no  title  to  indulgence ;  and  if  I  had  followed 
the  dictates  of  my  own  opinion,  I  never  should  have 
allowed  you  the  respite  of  a  moment.  In  your  pub- 
lic character,  you  have  injured  every  subject  of  the 
empire  ;  and  though  an  individual  is  not  authorised 
to  forgive  the  injuries  done  to  society,  he  is  called 
upon  to  assert  his  separate  share  in  the  public  resent- 
ment.    I  submitted,  however,   to  the  judgment  of 


6  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

men,  more  moderate,  perhaps  more  candid,  than 
mj?self.  For  my  own  part,  I  do  not  pretend  to  un- 
derstand those  prudent  forms  of  decorum,  those  gentle 
rules  of  discretion,  which  some  men  endeavour  to 
unite  with  the  conduct  of  the  greatest  and  most 
hazardous  affairs.  Engaged  in  the  defence  of  an 
honourable  cause,  I  would  take  a  decisive  part.  I 
should  scorn  to  provide  for  a  future  retreat,  or  to 
keep  terms  with  a  man  who  preserves  no  measures 
with  the  public.  Neither  the  abject  submission  of 
deserting  his  post  in  the  hour  of  danger,  nor  even 
the  sacred*  shield  of  cowardice  should  protect  him. 
I  would  pursue  him  through  life,  and  try  the  last  ex- 
ertion of  my  abilities  to  preserve  the  perishable  imfa- 
uiy  of  his  name,  and  make  it  immortal. 

What  then,  my  lord  ?  Is  this  the  event  of  all  the 
sacrifices  you  have  made  to  lord  Bute's  patronage, 
and  to  your  own  unfortunate  ambition  ?  Was  it  for 
this  you  abandoned  your  earliest  friendships,  tho 
warmest  connexions  of  your  youth,  and  all  those 
Ironourable  engagements  by  which  you  once  soli- 
cited, and  might  have  acquired,  the  esteem  of  your 
country  ?  Have  you  secured  no  recompense  for  such 
a  waste  of  honour  ?  Unhappy  man  !  what  party 
will  receive  the  common  deserter  of  all  parties  ? 
Without  a  client  to  flatter,  without  a  friend  to  con- 
sole you,  and  with  only  one  companion  from  the 
honest  house  of  Bloomsbury,  you  must  now  retire 
into  a  dreadful  solitude.  At  the  most  active  period 
of  life  you  must  quit  the  busy  scene,    and  conceal 

*  Sacro  tremuere  timore.     Every  coward  pretends 

to  be  planet-struck. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  7 

yourself  from  the  world,  if  you  would  hope  to  save 
the  wretched  remains  of  a  ruined  reputation.  The 
vices  operate  like  age,  bring  on  disease  before  its 
lime,  and  in  the  prime  of  youth  leave  the  character 
broken  and  exhausted. 

Yet  your  conduct  has  been  mysterious,  as  well  as 
contemptible.  Where  is  now  that  firmness,  or  ob- 
stinacy, so  long  boasted  of  by  your  friends,  and  ac- 
knowledged by  your  enemies  ?  We  were  taught  to 
expect  that  you  would  not  leave  the  ruin  of  this 
country  to  be  completed  by  other  hands,  but  were 
determined  either  to  gain  a  decisive  victory  over 
the  constitution,  or  to  perish  bravely,  at  least, 
behind  the  last  dike  of  the  prerogative.  You  knew 
the  danger,  and  might  have  been  provided  for  it. 
You  took  sufficient  time  to  prepare  for  a  meeting 
with  your  parliament,  to  confirm  the  mercenary 
fidelity  of  your  dependents,  and  to  suggest  to  your 
•sovereign  a  language  suited  to  his  dignity  at  least, 
if  not  to  his  benevolence  and  Avisdom.  Yet,  while 
the  whole  kingdom  was  agitated  with  anxious  ex- 
pectation upon  one  great  point,  you  meanly  evaded 
the  question,  and,  instead  of  the  explicit  firmness 
and  decision  of  a  king,  gave  us  nothing  but  the 
misery  of  a  ruined*  grazier,  and  the  whining  piety 
of  a  methodist.  We  had  reason  to  expect,  that  no- 
tice would  have  been  taken  of  the  petitions  which 
the  king  had  received  from  the  English  nation  j 
and  although  I  can  conceive  some  personal  motives 
for  not  yielding  to  them,  I  can  find  none,  in  common 

*  There  was  something  wonderfully  pathetic  in  the  men- 
tion of  the  horned  cattle. 


3  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

prudence  or  decency,  for  treating  them  with  con- 
tempt. Be  assured,  my  lord,  the  English  people 
will  not  tamely  submit  to  this  unworthy  treatment. 
They  had  a  right  to  be  heard  ;  and  their  petitions, 
if  not  granted,  deserved  to  be  considered.  What- 
ever be  the  real  views  and  doctrines  of  a  court,  the 
sovereign  should  be  taught  to  preserve  some  forms 
of  attention  to  his  subjects  ;  and,  if  he  will  not  re- 
dress their  grievances,  not  to  make  them  a  topic  of 
jest  and  mockery  among  lords  and  ladies  of  the  bed- 
chamber. Injuries  may  be  atoned  for  and  forgiven  : 
but  insults  admit  of  no  compensation.  They  de- 
grade the  mind  in  its  own  esteem,  and  force  it  to 
recover  its  level  by  revenge.  This  neglect  of  the 
petitions  was,  however,  a  part  of  your  original  plan 
of  government  ;  nor  will  any  consequences  it  has 
produced  account  for  your  deserting  your  sove- 
reign, in  the  midst  of  that  distress,  in  which  you  and 
your*  new  friends  have  involved  him.  One  would 
think,  my  lord,  you  might  have  taken  this  spirited 
resolution  before  you  had  dissolved  the  last  of  those 
early  connexions,  which  once,  even  in  your  own 
opinion,  did  honour  to  3'our  youth  ;  before  you  had 
obliged  lord  Granby  to  quit  a  service  he  was  at- 
tached to  ;  before  you  had  discarded  one  chancellor, 
and  killed  another.  To  what  an  abject  condition 
have  you  laboured  to  reduce  the  best  of  princes, 
when  the  unhappy  man,  who  yields  at  last  to  such 
personal  instance  and  solicitation,  as  never  can  be 
fairly  employed  against  a  subject,  feels  himself  de- 
graded by  his  compliance,   and  is  unable  to  survive 

*  The  Bedford  party. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  9 

die  disgraceful  honours  which  his  gracious  sovereign 
had  compelled  him  to  accept !  He  was  a  man  of 
spirit,  for  he  had  a  quick  sense  of  shame,  and  death 
has  redeemed  his  character.  I  know  your  grace  too 
well  to  appeal  to  your  feelings  upon  this  event ;  but 
there  is  another  heart,  not  yet,  I  hope,  quite 
oallous  to  the  touch  of  humanity,  to  which  it  ought 
to  be  a  dreadful  lesson  for  ever.* 

Now,  my  lord,  let  us  consider  the  situation  to 
which  you  have  conducted,  and  in  which  you  have 
thought  it  advisable  to  abandon,  your  royal  mas- 
ter. Whenever  the  people  have  complained,  and 
nothing  better  could  be  said  in  defence  of  the  mea- 
sures of  the  government,  it  has  been  the  fashion  to 
answer  us,  though  not  very  fairly,  with  an  appeal 
to  the  private  virtues  of  your  sovereign  ;  "  Has  he 
not,  to  relieve  the  people,  surrendered  a  consider- 
able part  of  his  revenue  ?  Has  he  not  made  the 
judges  independent,  by  fixing  them  in  their  places 
for  life  ?"  My  lord,  we  acknowledge  the  gracious 
principle  which  gave  birth  to  these  concessions, 
and  have  nothing  to  regret,  but  that  it  has  never 
been  adhered  to.  At  the  end  of  seven  years,  we 
are  loaded  with  a  debt  of  above  five  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  upon  the  civil  list;  and  now  we  see 
the  chancellor  of  Great  Britain  tyrannically  forced 
out  of  his  office,  not  for  want  of  abilities,  not  for 
want  of  integrity,  or  of  attention  to  his  duty,  but 
for    delivering    his    honest    opinion    in    parliament. 

*  The  most  secret  particular  of  this  detestable  transac- 
tion shall  in  due  time  be  given  to  the  public.  The  oeople 
shall  know  what  kind  of  man  they  have  to  deal  with. 

A  2 


(0  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

upon  the  greatest  constitutional  question  that  has 
arisen  since  the  revolution.  We  care  not  to  whose 
private  virtues  you  appeal.  The  theory  of  such  a 
government  is  falsehood  and  mockery  ;  the  practice 
is  oppression.  You  have  laboured  then  (though, 
C  confess,  to  no  purpose)  to  rob  your  master  of  the 
only  plausible  answer  that  ever  was  given  in  de- 
fence of  his  government — of  the  opinion  which  the 
people  had  conceived  of  his  personal  honour  and 
integrity.  The  duke  of  Bedford  was  more  mode- 
rate than  your  grace  ;  he  only  forced  his  master  to 
violate  a  solemn  promise  made  to  an  individual;* 
but  you,  my  lord,  have  successively  extended  your 
advice  to  every  political,  every  moral  engagement, 
that  could  bind  either  the  magistrate  or  the  man. 
The  condition  of  a  king  is  often  miserable  ;  but  it 
required  your  grace's  abilities  to  make  it  contempt- 
ible. You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  the  faithful  ser- 
vants, in  whose  hands  you  have  left  him,  are  able 
to  retrieve  his  honour,  and  to  support  his  govern- 
ment. You  have  publicly  declared,  even  since  your 
resignation,  that  you  approved  of  their  measures, 
and  admired  their  conduct,  particularly  that  of  the 
earl  of  Sandwich.  What  a  pity  it  is,  that,  with  all 
this  appearance,  yoft  should  think  it  necessary  to 
separate  yourself  from  such  amiable  companions  ! 
You  forget,  my  lord,  that,  while  you  are  lavish  in 
*he  praise  of  men  whom  you  desert,  you  are  pub- 
licly opposing  your  conduct  to  your  opinions,  and: 
depriving  yourself  of  the  only  plausible  pretence 
you   had  for  leaving  your  sovereign  overwhelmed 

*  Mr.  Stuart  M'Kenzie. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  11 

with  distress.  I  call  it  plausible  ;  for,  in  truth, 
there  is  no  reason  whatsoever,  less  than  the  frowns 
of  your  master,  that  could  justify  a  man  of  spirit 
for  abandoning  his  post  at  a  moment  so  critical  and 
important.  It  is  in  vain  to  evade  the  question  :  if 
you  will  not  speak  out,  the  public  have  a  right  to 
judge  from  appearances.  We  are  authorised  to 
conclude,  that  you  either  dine  red  from  your  col- 
leagues, whose  measures  you  still  affect  to  defend, 
or  that  you  thought  the  administration  of  the  king's 
affairs  no  longer  tenable.  You  are  at  liberty  to 
choose  between  the  hypocrite  and  the  coward. 
Your  best  friends  are  in  doubt  which  way  they  shall 
incline.  Your  country  unites  the  characters,  and 
gives  you  credit  for  them  both.  For  my  own  part, 
I  see  nothing  inconsistent  in  your  conduct.  You  be- 
gan with  betraying  the  people  j  you  conclude  with 
betraying  the  king. 

In  your  treatment  of  particular  persons,  you  have 
preserved  the  uniformity  of  your  character.  Even 
Mr.  Bradshaw  declares,  that  no  man  was  ever  so  ill 
used  as   himself.     As  to   the  provision*   you   have 


*  A  pension  of  1500/.  per  annum,  insured  upon  the  four 
one  half  per  cents,  (he  was  too  cunning  to  trust  to  Irish 
security  )  for  the  lives  of  himself  and  his  sons.  This  gentle- 
man, who,  a  very  few  years  ago,  was  clerk  to  a  contractor  for 
forage,  and  afterwards  exalted  to  a  petty  post  in  the  war 
office,  thought  it  necessary  (as  soon  as  he  was  appointed 
secretary  to  the  treasury)  to  take  that  great  house  in  Lin- 
coln's-Imi-fielcls,  in  which  the  earl  of  Northington  had  re- 
sided, while  he  was  lord  high  chancellor  of  Great  Britain. 
As  to  the  pension,  lord  North  very  solemnly  assured  the 


12  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

made  for  his  family,  he  was  entitled  to  it  by  the 
house  he  lives  in.  The  successor  df  one  chancel- 
lor might  well  pretend  to  be  the  rival, ^jF,  another. 
It  is  the  breach  of  private  friendship  which  touches 
Mr.  Bradshaw  ;  and,  to  say  the  truth,  when  a  man 
of  his  rank,  and  abilities  had  taken  so  active  a  part 
in  your  affairs,  he  ought  not  to  have  been  let  down 
at  last  with  a  miserable  pension  of  fifteen  hundred 
pounds  a-year.  Colonel  Luttrell,  Mr.  Onslow,  and 
governor  Burgoyne,  were  equally  engaged  with  you, 
and  have  rather  more  reason  to  complain  than  Mr. 
Bradshaw.  These  are  men,  my  lord,  whose  friend- 
ship you  should  have  adhered  to  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple on  which  you  deserted  lord  Rockingham,  lord 
Chatham,  lord  Camden,  and  the  duke  of  Portland. 
We  can  easily  account  for  your  violating  your  en- 
gagements with  men  of  honour  ;  but  why  should 
you  betray  your  natural  connexions  ?  Why  sepa- 
rate yourself  from  lord  Sandwich,  lord  Gower,  and 
Mr.  Rigby  ;  or  leave  the  three  worthy  gentlemen 
above-mentioned  to  shift  for  themselves  ?  With  all 
the  fashionable  indulgence  of  the  times,  this  coun- 
try does  not  abound  in  characters  like  theirs  ;  and 
you  may  find  it  a  very  difficult  matter  to  recruit  the 
black  catalogue  of  your  friends. 


house  of  commons,  that  no  pension  was  ever  so  well 
deserved  as  Mr.  Bradshaw's.  N.  B.  Lord  Camden  and  sir 
Jeffrey  Amherst  are  not  near  so  well  provided  for :  and 
sk  Edward  Hawke,  who  saved  the  state,  retires  with  two 
thousand  pounds  a  year-  on  the  Irish  establishment,  from 
which  he,  in  fact,  receives  less  than  Mr.  Bradshaw's  pen- 
sion. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  13 

The  recollection  of  the  royal  patent  you  sold  to 
Mr.  Hine,  obliges  me  to  say  a  word  in  defence  of  a 
man,  whom  you  have  taken  the  most  dishonourable 
means  to  injure.     I  do  not  refer  to  the  sham  pro- 
secution which   you   affected   to   carry    on   against 
him.     On  that  ground,  I  doubt  not,  he  is  prepared 
to  meet  you  with  tenfold  recrimination,  and  set  you 
at  defiance.     The  injury  you  had  done  him  affects 
his  moral   character.     You  knew  that  the  offer  to 
purchase  the  reversion  of  a  place,  which  has  here- 
tofore  been  sold   under    a   decree    of  the   court   of 
chancery,     however    imprudent    in     his     situation, 
would  no  way  tend  to  cover  him  with  that  sort  of 
guilt  which  you  wished  to  fix  upon  him  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.     You  laboured  then,  by  every  species 
of  false   suggestion,  and  even  by  publishing  coun- 
terfeit letters,  to   have  it  understood,    that  he   had 
proposed  terms  of  accommodation  to  you,    and   had 
offered  to  abandon  his  principles,  his  party,   and  his 
friends.     You  consulted  your  own  breast  for  a  char- 
acter of  consummate  treachery,  and  gave  it  to  "the 
public   for    that   of  Mr.  Vaughan.     I   think  myself 
obliged   to  do   this  justice  to  an  injured  man,  be- 
cause I   was  deceived  by   the  appearances  thrown 
out  by  your  grace,  and  have  frequently  spoken  of 
his  conduct  with  indignation.     If  he  really  be,  what 
I  think  him,   honest,  though  mistaken,  he  will  be 
happy  in  recovering  his  reputation,   though  at  the 
expense  of  his  understanding.     Here  I  see  the  mat- 
ter is   likely  to  rest.     Your  grace  is  afraid  to  carry 
on  the   prosecution.     Mr.  Hine  keeps  quiet  posses- 
lion  of  the  purchase ;   and  governor  Burgoyne,  re- 
lieved   from    the    apprehension    of   refunding    the 


U  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

money,  sits  down,  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  in- 
famous and  contented. 

I  believe,  my  lord,  I  may  now  take  my  leave  of 
you  for  ever.  You  are  no  longer  that  resolute  min- 
ister, who  had  spirit  to  support  the  most  violent  mea- 
sures ;  who  compensated  for  the  want  of  good  and 
great  qualities,  by  a  brave  determination  (which  some 
people  admired  and  relied  on)  to  maintain  himself 
without  them.  The  reputation  of  obstinacy  and  per- 
severance might  have  supplied  the  place  of  all  the 
absent  virtues.  You  have  now  added  the  last  nega- 
tive to  your  character,  and  meanly  confessed  that  you 
are  destitute  of  the  common  spirit  of  a  man.  Re- 
tire, then,  my  lord,  and  hide  your  blushes  from  the 
world  ;  for,  with  such  a  load  of  shame,  even  black 
may  change  its  colour.  A  mind  such  as  yours,  in  the 
solitary  hours  of  domestic  enjoyment,  may  still  find 
topics  of  consolation.  You  may  find  it  in  the  memory 
of  violated  friendship;  in  the  afflictions  of  an  accom- 
plished prince,  whom  you  have  disgraced  and  desert- 
ed ;•  and  in  the  agitations  of  a  great  country,  driven, 
by  your  counsels,  to  the  brink  of  destruction. 

The  palm  of  ministerial  firmness  is  now  transferred 
to  lord  North.  He  tells  us  so  himself,  and  with  the 
plenitude  of  the  ore  rotundo  ;*  and  I  am  ready  enough, 
to  believe,  that,  while  he  can  keep  his  place,  he  will 
not  easily  be  persuaded  to  resign  it.     Your  grace 


*  This  eloquent  person  has  got  as  far  as  the  discipline  of 
Demosthenes.  He  constantly  speaks  with  pebbles  in  his 
mouth,  to  improve  his  articulation. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  15 

was  the  firm  minister  of  yesterday ;  lord  North  is  the 
firm   minister  of  to-day :    to-morrow,    perhaps,    his 
majesty,  in  his  wisdom,  may  give  us  a  rival  for  you 
both.     You  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  temper 
of  your  late  allies,  to  think  it  possible  that  lord  North 
should  be  permitted  to  govern  this  country.     If  we 
may  believe  common   fame,  they   have  shown  him 
their   superiority  already.      His  majesty  is,  indeed, 
too  gracious  to  insult  his  subjects,  by  choosing  his 
first  minister  from  among  the  domestics  of  the  duke 
of  Bedford  ;  that  would  have  been  too  gross  an  out- 
rage to  the  three  kingdoms.     Their  purpose,  how- 
ever, is  equally  answered,  by  pushing  forward  this 
unhappy  figure,  and  forcing  it  to  bear  the  odium  of 
measures,  which  they  in  reality  direct.     Without  im- 
mediately appearing  to  govern,  they  possess  the  pow- 
er, and  distribute  the  emoluments  of  government,  as 
they  think  proper.     They  still  adhere  to  the  spirit  of 
that  calculation  which  made  Mr.  Luttrell  representa- 
tive of  Middlesex.     Far  from  regretting  your  retreat, 
they  assure  us,  very  gravely,  that  it  increases  the  reat 
strength  of  the  ministry.     According  to  this  way  of 
reasoning,  they  will  probably  grow  stronger  and  more 
flourishing  every  hour  they  exist :  for  I  think  there  is 
hardly  a  day  passes  in  which  some  one  or  other  of 
his  majesty's  servants  does  not  leave  them  to  improve 
by  the  loss  of  his  assistance.     But,  alas  !  their  coun- 
tenances speak  a  different  language.    When  the  mem- 
bers drop  off,  the  main  body  cannot  be  insensible  of 
its   approaching  dissolution.     Even  the  violence  of 
their  proceedings  is  a  signal  of  despair.    Like  broken 
tenants,  who  have  had  warning  to  quit  the  premises, 


16  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

they  curse  their  landlord,  destroy  the  fixtures,  throw 
every  thing  into  confusion,  and  care  not  what  mis- 
chief they  do  to  the  estate. 

JUNIUS. 


XXXVII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser 

SIR,  March  19,  1770. 

I  believe  there  is  no  man,  however  indifferent 
about  the  interests  of  this  countrj',  who  will  not 
readily  confess,  that  the  situation  to  which  we  are 
now  reduced,  whether  it  has  arisen  from  the  violence 
of  faction,  or  from  an  arbitrary  system  of  govern- 
ment, justifies  the  most  melancholy  apprehensions, 
and  calls  for  the  exertion  of  whatever  wisdom  or 
vigour  is  left  among  us.  The  king's  answer  to  the  re- 
monstrance of  the  city  of  London,  and  the  measures 
since  adopted  by  the  ministry,  amount  to  a  plain  de- 
claration, that  the  principle  on  which  Mr.  Luttrell 
was  seated  in  the  house  of  commons,  is  to  be  sup- 
ported in  all  its  consequences,  and  carried  to  its  ut- 
most extent.  The  same  spirit  which  violated  the 
freedom  of  election,  now  invades  the  declaration  and 
bill  of  rights,  and  threatens  to  punish  the  subject  for 
exercising  a  privilege  hitherto  undisputed,  of  petition- 
ing the  crown.  The  grievances  of  the  people  are 
aggravated  by  insults ;  their  complaints  not  merely 
disregarded,  but  checked  by  authority  j  and  every 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  17 

dne  of  those  acts  against  which  they  remonstrated, 
confirmed  by  the  king's  decisive  approbation.  At 
such  a  moment,  no  honest  man  will  remain  silent  or 
inactive.  However  distinguished  by  rank  or  proper- 
ty, in  the  rights  of  freedom  we  are  all  equal.  As  we 
are  Englishmen,  the  least  considerable  man  among 
us  has  an  interest  equal  to  the  proudest  nobleman  in 
the  laws  and  constitution  of  his  country,  and  is 
equally  called  upon  to  make  a  generous  contribution 
in  support  of  them  ;  whether  it  be  the  heart  to  con- 
ceive, the  understanding  to  direct,  or  the  hand  to 
execute.  It  is  a  common  cause  in  which  we  are  all 
interested,  in  which  we  should  all  be  engaged.  The 
man  who  deserts  it  at  this  alarming  crisis,  is  an  ene- 
my to  his  country,  and,  what  I  think  of  infinitely  less 
importance,  a  traitor  to  his  sovereign.  The  subject, 
who  is  truly  loyal  to  the  chief  magistrate,  will  neither 
advise  or  submit  to  arbitrary  measures.  The  city  of 
London  hath  given  an  example,  which,  I  doubt  not, 
will  be  followed  by  the  whole  kingdom.  The  noble 
spirit  of  the  metropolis  is  the  life-blood  of  the  state, 
collected  at  the  heart :  from  that  point  it  circulates, 
with  health  and  vigour,  through  every  artery  of  the 
constitution.  The  time  is  come  when  the  body  of  the 
English  people  must  assert  their  own  cause  :  con- 
scious of  their  strength,  and  animated  by  a  sense  of 
their  duty,  they  will  not  surrender  their  birth-right 
to  ministers,  parliaments,  or  kings.  The  city  of 
London  have  expressed  their  sentiments  with  freedom 
and  firmness ;  they  have  spoken  truth  boldly  ;  and, 
in  whatsoever  light  their  remonstrance  may  be  repre- 
sented by  courtiers,  I  defy  the  most  subtile  lawyer  in 
this  country  to  point  out  a  single  instance  in  which 


18  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

they  have  exceeded  the  truth.  Even  that  assertion 
which  we  are  told  is  most  offensive  to  parliament,  in 
the  theory  of  the  English  constitution,  is  strictly  true. 
If  any  part  of  the  representative  body  be  not  chosen 
by  the  people,  that  part  vitiates  and  corrupts  the 
whole.  If  there  be  a  defect  in  the  representation  of 
the  people,  that  power,  which  alone  is  equal  to  the 
making  of  the  laws  in  this  country,  is  not  complete, 
and  the  acts  of  parliament,  under  that  circumstance, 
are  not  the  acts  of  a  pure  and  entire  legislature.  I 
speak  of  the  theory  of  our  constitution ;  and  what- 
ever difficulties  or  inconveniences  may  attend  the 
practice,  I  am  ready  to  maintain  that,  as  far  as  the 
fact  deviates  from  the  principle,  so  far  the  practice  is 
vicious  and  corrupt.  I  have  not  heard  a  question 
raised  upon  any  other  part  of  the  remonstrance. 
That  the  principle  on  which  the  Middlesex  election 
was  determined,  is  more  pernicious  in  its  effects  than 
either  the  levying  of  ship-money  by  Charles  the 
First,  or  the  suspending  power  assumed  by  his  son, 
will  hardly  be  disputed  by  any  man  who  understands 
or  wishes  well  to  the  English  constitution.  It  is  not 
an  act  of  open  violence  done  by  the  king,  or  any 
direct  or  palpable  breach  of  the  laws  attempted  by 
his  minister,  that  can  ever  endanger  the  liberties  of 
this  country.  Against  such  a  king  or  minister  the 
people  would  immediately  take  the  alarm,  and  all  the 
parties  unite  to  oppose  him.  The  laws  may  be  gross- 
ly violated  in  particular  instances,  without  any  direct 
attack  upon  the  whole  system.  Facts  of  that  kind 
stand  alone  ;  they  are  attributed  to  necessity,  not  de- 
fended by  principles.  We  can  never  be  really  in 
danger,  until  the  forms  of  parliament  are  made  use 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  t9 

of  to  destroy  the  substance  of  our  civil  and  political 
liberties  ;  until  parliament  itself  betrays  its  trust,  by 
contributing  to  establish  new  principles  of  govern- 
ment, and  employing  the  very  weapons  committed  to 
it  by  the  collective  body  to  stab  the  constitution. 

As  for  the  terms  of  the  remonstrance,  I  presume  it 
will  not  be  affirmed,  by  any  person  less  polished  than 
a  gentleman  usher,  that  this  is  a  season  for  compli- 
ments.    Our  gracious   king,  indeed,  is    abundantly 
civil  to  himself.     Instead  of  an  answer  to  a  petition, 
his  majesty  very  graciously  pronounces  his  own  pan- 
egyric ;  and  I  confess  that,  as  far  as  his  personal  be- 
haviour, or  the  royal  purity  of  his  intentions,  is  con- 
cerned, the  truth    of  those  declarations,  which    the 
minister  has  drawn  up  for  his  master,  cannot  decent- 
ly be  disputed.     In  every  other  respect,  I  affirm,  that 
they  are  absolutely  unsupported  either  in  argument 
or  fact :  I  must  add,  too,  that  supposing  the  speech 
were  otherwise  unexceptionable,   it  is  not  a  direct 
answer  to  the  petition  of  the  city.     His  majesty  is 
pleased  to  say,  that  he  is  always  ready  to  receive  the 
request  of  his  subjects  ;  yet  the  sheriffs  were  twice 
sent  back  with  an  excuse ;  and  it  was  certainly  de- 
bated in  council,  whether  or  no  the  magistrates  of 
the  city  of  London   should  be  admitted  to  an  au- 
dience.    Whether  the  remonstrance  be  or  be  not  in- 
jurious to  parliament,  is  the  very  question  between 
the  parliament  and  the  people,  and  such  a  question 
as  cannot  be  decided  by  the  assertion  of  a  third  party, 
however   respectable.      That   the  petitioning  for    ;. 
dissolution  of  parliament  is  irreconcilable  with  the 
principles    of  the   constitution,    is  a  new   doctrine. 
His  majesty,  perhaps,  has  not  been  informed,  that 


20  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

the  house  of  commons  themselves,  have,  by  a  for- 
mal resolution,  admitted  it  to  be  the  right  of  the  sub- 
ject. His  majesty  proceeds  to  assure  us,  that  he  has 
made  the  laws  the  rule  of  his  conduct.  Was  it  in 
ordering  or  permitting  his  ministers  to  apprehend  Mr. 
Wilkes  by  a  general  warrant  ?  Was  it  in  suffering 
his  ministers  to  revive  the  obsolete  maxim  of  nullttm 
tempus,  to  rob  the  duke  of  Portland  of  his  property, 
and  thereby  give  a  decisive  turn  to  a  county  election  ? 
Was  it  in  erecting  a  chamber  consultation  of  sur- 
geons, with  authority  to  examine  into  and  supersede 
the  legal  verdict  of  a  jury  ?  Or  did  his  majesty 
consult  the  laws  of  this  country,  when  he  permitted 
his  secretary  of  state  to  declare,  that,  whenever  the 
civil  magistrate  is  trifled  with,  a  military  force  must 
be  sent  for,  without  the  delay  of  a  moment,  and  ef- 
fectually employed  ?  Or  was  it  in  the  barbarous  ex- 
actness with  which  this  illegal,  inhuman  doctrine  was 
carried  into  execution  ?  If  his  majesty  had  recol- 
lected these  facts,  I  think,  he  would  never  have  said, 
at  least  with  any  reference  to  the  measures  of  his 
government,  that  he  had  made  the  laws  the  rule  of 
his  conduct.  To  talk  of  preserving  the  affections, 
or  relying  on  the  support  of  his  subjects,  while  he 
continues  to  act  upon  these  principles,  is,  indeed, 
paying  a  compliment  to  their  loyalty,  which,  I  hope, 
they  have  too  much  spirit  and  understanding  to 
deserve. 

His  majesty,  we  are  told,  is  not  only  punctual  in 
the  performance  of  his  own  duty,  but  careful  not  to 
assume  any  of  those  powers  which  the  constitution 
}ias  placed  in  other  hands.  Admitting  this  last  as- 
sertion to  be  strictly  true,  it  is  no  way  to  the  purpose 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  21 

i 

The  city  of  London  have  not  desired  the  king  to  as^ 
stime  a  power  placed  in  other  hands.  If  they  had,  J 
should  hope  to  see  the  person  who  dared  to  present 
such  a  petition  immediately  impeached.  They  so- 
licit their  sovereign  to  exert  that  constitutional  au- 
thority which  the  laws  have  vested  in  him  for  the 
benefit  of  his  subjects.  They  call  upon  him  to  make 
use  of  his  lawful  prerogative  in  a  case  which  our 
laws  evidently  supposed  might  happen,  since  they 
have  provided  for  it  by  trusting  the  sovereign  with  a 
discretionary  power  to  dissolve  the  parliament.  This 
request  will,  I  am  confident,  be  supported  by  remon- 
strances from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  His  majes- 
ty will  find,  at  last,  that  this  is  the  sense  of  his  peo- 
ple ;  and  that  it  is  not  his  interest  to  support  either 
ministry  or  parliament  at  the  hazard  of  a  breach 
with  the  collective  body  of  his  subjects.  That  he  is 
king  of  a  free  people,  is,  indeed,  his  greatest  glory. 
That  he  may  long  continue  the  king  of  a  free  people 
is  the  second  wish  that  animates  my  heart.  The  first 
is,  that  the  people  may  be  free.* 


*  When  his  majesty  had  done  reading  his  speech,  the 
lord  mayor,  &c.  had  the  honour  of  kissing  his  majesty's 
hand :  after  which,  as  they  were  withdrawing,  his  majesty 
instantly  turned  round  to  his  courtiers,  and  burst  out  a 
laughing. 

Nero  jiddled,  while  Rome  was  burning. 

JOHN  HORNE. 


22  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS 


XXXVIII. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  April  3,  1770. 

In  my  last  letter  I  offered  you  my  opinion  of  the 
truth  and  propriety  of  his  majesty's  answer  to  the  city 
of  London,  considering  it  merely  as  the  speech  of  a 
minister,  drawn  up  in  his  own  defence,  and  delivered, 
as  usual,  by  the  chief  magistrate.  I  would  separate^ 
as  much  as  possible,  the  king's  personal  character 
and  behaviour  from  the  acts  of  the  present  govern- 
ment. I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  his  majesty 
had,  in  effect,  no  more  concern  in  the  substance  of 
what  he  said,  than  sir  James  Hodges  had  in  the  re- 
monstrance ;  and  that  as  sir  James,  in  virtue  of  his 
office,  was  obliged  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  the 
people,  his  majesty  might  think  himself  bound,  by 
the  same  official  obligation,  to  give  a  graceful  ut- 
terance to  the  sentiments  of  his  minister.  The  cold 
formality  of  a  well-repeated  lesson  is  widely  distant 
from  the  animated  expression  of  the  heart. 

This  distinction,  however,  is  only  true  with  respect 
to  the  measure  itself.  The  consequences  of  it  reach 
beyond  the  minister,  and  materially  affect  his  majes- 
ty'js  honour.  In  their  own  nature  they  are  formida- 
ble enough  to  alarm  a  man  of  prudence,  and  dis- 
graceful enough  to  afflict  a  man  of  spirit.  A  subject, 
whose  sincere  attachment  to  his  majesty's  person  and 
family  is  founded  upon  rational  principles,  will  not, 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  23 

in  the  present  conjuncture,  be  scrupulous  of  alarm- 
ing, or  even  of  afflicting,  his  sovereign.  I  know 
there  is  another  sort  of  loyalty  %  of  which  his  majesty 
has  had  plenty  of  experience.  When  the  loyalty  of 
Tories,  Jacobites,  and  Scotchmen,  has  once  takqti 
possession  of  an  unhappy  prince,  it  seldom  leaves 
him  without  accomplishing  his  destruction.  When 
the  poison  of  their  doctrines  has  tainted  the  natural 
benevolence  of  his  disposition,  when  their  insidious 
counsels  have  corrupted  the  stamina  of  his  govern- 
ment, what  antid«te  can  restore  him  to  his  political 
health  and  honour  but  the  firm  sincerity  of  his  Eng- 
lish subjects  ? 

It  has  not  been  usual,  in   this  country,  at  least 
since  the  days  of  Charles  the  First,  to  see  the  sove- 
reign personally  at  variance,  or  engaged  in  a  direct 
altercation  with  his  subjects.     Acts  of  grace  and  in- 
dulgence are  wisely  appropriated  to  him,  and  should 
constantly  be  performed  by  himself.    He  never  should 
appear  but  in  an  amiable  light  to  his  subjects.    Even 
in  France,  as  long  as  any  ideas  of  a  limited  monar- 
chy were  thought  worth  preserving,  it  was  a  maxim 
that  no  man  should  leave  the  royal  presence  discon- 
tented.    They  have  lost  or  renounced  the  moderate 
principles  of  their  government ;  and  now,  when  then- 
parliaments  venture  to  remonstrate,  the  tyrant  come* 
forward,  and  answers  absolutely  for   himself.     The 
spirit  of  their  present  constitution  requires  that  the 
king  should  be  feared  ;  and  the  principle,  I  believe, 
is  tolerably  supported  by  the  fact.     But,  in  our  po- 
litical 6ystem,  the  theory  is  at  variance  with  the  prac- 
tice, for  the  king  should  be  beloved.     Measures  of 
greater  severity  may,  indeed,  in  some  circumstances. 


24  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

be  necessary  :  but  the  minister  who  advises  should 
take  the  execution  and  odium  of  them  entirely  upon 
himself.  He  not  only  betrays  his  master,  but  vio- 
lates the  spirit  of  the  English  constitution,  when  he 
exposes  the  chief  magistrate  to  the  personal  hatred 
or  contempt  of  his  subjects.  When  we  speak  of  the 
firmness  of  government,  we  mean  an  uniform  sys- 
tem of  measures,  deliberately  adopted,  and  resolute- 
ly maintained  by  the  servants  of  the  crown ;  not  a 
peevish  asperity  in  the  language  and  behaviour  of  the 
sovereign.  The  government  of  a  weak,  irresolute 
monarch,  may  be  wise,  moderate,  and  firm  :  that  of 
an  obstinate,  capricious  prince,  on  the  contrary,  may 
be  feeble,  undetermined,  and  relaxed.  The  reputa- 
tion of  public  measures  depends  upon  the  minister, 
who  is  responsible ;  not  upon  the  king,  whose  pri- 
vate opinions  are  not  supposed  to  have  any  weight 
against  the  advice  of  his  council,  and  whose  personal 
authority  should,  therefore,  never  be  interposed  in 
public  affairs.  This,  I  believe,  is  true  constitutional 
doctrine.  But  for  a  moment  let  us  suppose  it  false. 
Let  it  be  taken  for  granted,  that  an  occasion  may 
arise  in  which  a  king  of  England  shall  be  compelled 
to  take  upon  himself  the  ungrateful  office  of  rejecting 
the  petitions  and  censuring  the  conduct  of  !  is  sub- 
jects ;  and  let  the  city  remonstrance  be  supposed  to 
have  created  so  extraordinary  an  occasion.  On  this 
principle,  which  I  presume  no  friend  of  administra- 
tion will  dispute,  let  the  wisdom  and  spirit  rS  the 
ministry  be  examined.  They  advise  the  king  to 
hazard  his  dignity,  by  a  positive  declaration  of  bis 
own  sentiments ;  they  suggest  to  him  a  language  full 
of  severity  and  reproach.     What  follows  ?     When 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  26 

his  majesty  had  taken  so  decisive  a  part  in  support 
of  his  ministry  and  parliament,  he  had  a  right  to  ex- 
pect from  them  a  reciprocal  demonstration  of  firmness 
in  their  own  cause,  and  of  their  zeal  for  his  honour, 
He  had  reason  to  expect  (and  such,  I  doubt  not,  were 
the  blustering  promises  of  lord  North)  that  the  per- 
sons whom  he  had  been  advised  to  charge  with  hav- 
ing failed  in  their  respect  to  him,  with  having  injured 
parliament,  and  violated  the  principles  of  the  con- 
stitution, should  not  have  been  permitted  to  escape 
without  some  severe  marks  of  the  displeasure  and 
vengeance  of  parliament.  As  the  matter  stands,  the 
minister,  after  placing  his  sovereign  in  the  most  un- 
favourable light  to  his  subjects,  and  after  attempting 
to  fix  the  ridicule  and  odium  of  his  own  precipitate 
measures  upon  the  royal  character,  leaves  him  a  soli- 
tary figure  upon  the  scene,  to  recall,  if  he  can,  or  to 
compensate,  by  future  compliances,  for  one  unhappy 
demonstration  of  ill-supported  firmness  and  ineffec- 
tual resentment.  As  a  man  of  spirit,  his  majesty 
cannot  but  be  sensible,  that  the  lofty  terms  in  which 
he  was  persuaded  to  reprimand  the  city,  when  united 
with  the  silly  conclusion  of  the  business,  resembled 
the  pomp  of  a  mock  tragedy,  where  the  most  pa- 
thetic sentiments,  and  even  the  sufferings  of  the  hero, 
are  calculated  for  derision. 

Such  have  been  the  boasted  firmness  and  consis- 
tency of  a  minister,*  whose  appearance  in  the  house 


*  This  graceful  minister  is  oddly  constructed.  His 
tongue  is  a  little  too  big  for  his  mouth,  and  his  eyes  a 
great  deal  too  big  for  their  sockets.  Every  part  of  his 
person  sets  natural  proportion  at  defiance.     At  this  presenf 

VOL.   II.  B 


26  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

of  commons  was  thought  essential  to  the  king's  ser^ 
vice ;  whose  presence  was  to  influence  every  division } 
who  had  a  voice  to  persuade,  an  eye  to  penetrate,  a 
gesture  to  command.  The  reputation  of  these  great 
qualities  has  been  fatal  to  his  friends.  The  little  dig- 
nity of  Mr.  Ellis  has  been  committed.  The  mine 
was  sunk  ;  combustibles  were  provided ;  and  Wel- 
bore  Ellis,  the  Guy  Faux  of  the  fable,  waited  only 
for  the  signal  of  command.  All  of  a  sudden  the 
country  gentlemen  discover  how  grossly  they  have 
been  deceived  :  the  minister's  heart  fails  him ;  the 
grand  plot  is  defeated  in  a  moment ;  and  poor  Mr- 
Ellis  and  his  motion  taken  into  custody.  From  the 
event  of  Friday  last,  one  would  imagine  that  some 
fatality  hung  over  this  gentleman.  Whether  he  makes 
or  suppresses  a  motion,  he  is  equally  sure  of  disgrace. 
But  the  complexion  of  the  times  will  suffer  no  man 
to  be  vice-treasurer  of  Ireland  with  impunity.* 

writing  his  head  is  supposed  to  be  much  too  heavy  for  his 
shoulders. 

*  About  this  time  the  courtiers  talked  of  nothing  but 
a  bill  of  pains  and  penalties  against  the  lord  mayor  and 
sheriffs,  or  impeachment  at  the  least.  Little  Mannikin 
Ellis  told  the  king,  that  if  the  business  were  left  to  his 
management,  he  would  engage  to  do  wonders.  It  was 
thought  very  odd  that  a  business  of  so  much  importance 
should  be  entrusted  to  the  most  contemptible  little  piece 
of  machinery  in  the  whole  kingdom.  His  honest  zeal, 
however,  was  disappointed.  The  minister  took  fright ; 
and,  at  the  very  instant  that  little  Ellis  was  going  to 
open,  sent  him  an  order  to  sit  down.  All  their  mag- 
nanimous threats  ended  in  a  ridiculous  vote  of  censure ; 
and  a  still  more  ridiculous  address  to  the  king. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  27 

1  do  not  mean  to  express  the  smallest  anxiety  for 
the  minister's  reputation.  He  acts  separately  for 
himself,  and  the  most  shameful  inconsistency  may 
perhaps  be  no  disgrace  to  him.  But  when  the  sove- 
reign, who  represents  the  majesty  of  the  state,  ap- 
pears in  person,  his  dignity  should  be  supported  : 
the  occasion  should  be  important ;  the  plan  well 
considered  ;  the  execution  steady  and  consistent. 
My  zeal  for  his  majesty's  real  honour,  compels  me 
to  assert,  that  it  has  been  too  much  the  system  of 
the  present  reign,  to  introduce  him  personally  either 
to  act  for  or  defend  his  servants.  They  persuade 
him  to  do  what  is  properly  their  business,  and  de- 
sert him  in  the  midst  of  it.  Yet  this  is  an  incon- 
venience to  which  he  must  for  ever  be  exposed, 
while  he  adheres  to  a  ministry  divided  among  them- 
selves, or  unequal  in  credit  and  ability  to  the  great 
task  they  have  undertaken.  Instead  of  reserving 
the  interposition  of  the  royal  personage  as  the  last 
resource  of  government,  their  weakness  obliges  them 
to  apply  it  to  every  ordinary  occasion,  and  to 
render  it  cheap  and  common  in  the  opinion  of  the 
people.  Instead  of  supporting  their  master,  they 
look  to  him  for  support ;  and  for  the  emoluments 
of  remaining  one  day  more  in  office,  care  not  how 
much  his  sacred  character  is  prostituted  and  dis- 
honoured. 

If  I  thought  it  possible  for  this  paper  to  reach  the 
closet,  I  would  venture  to  appeal  at  once  to  his 
majesty's  judgment.  I  would  ask  him,  but  in  the 
most  respectful  terms,  "  As  you  are  a  young  man, 
sir,  who  ought  to  have  a  life  of  happiness  in  pros- 
pect ;  as  you  are  a  husband,  as  you  are  a  father. 


2B  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

(your  filial  duties,  I  own,  have  been  religiously  per- 
formed) is  it  bona  fide  for  your  interest  or  your 
honour,  to  sacrifice  your  domestic  tranquillity,  and 
to  live  in  a  perpetual  disagreement  with  your  people^ 
merely  to  preserve  such  a  chain  of  beings  as  North. 
Barrington,  Weymouth,  Gower,  Ellis,  Onslow. 
Rigby,  Jerry  Dyson,  and  Sandwich  ?  Their  very 
names  are  a  satire  upon  all  government !  and  I  defy 
the  gravest  of  your  chaplains  to  read  the  catalogue 
without  laughing." 

For  my  own  part,  sir,   I  have  always  considered 
addresses    from   parliament,  as    a   fashionable,   un- 
meaning formality.     Usurpers,  idiots,   and   tyrants, 
have  been    successively    complimented    with  almost 
the  same   professions    of    duty  and  affection.     But 
let  us  suppose  them  to  mean  exactly  what  they  pro- 
fess.    The  consequences  deserve  to   be  considered. 
Either  the   sovereign  is  a  man  of   high  spirit  and 
dangerous  ambition,  ready  to  take  advantage   of  the 
treachery  of  the  parliament,   ready  to  accept  of  the 
surrender  they  make  him  of  the  public  liberty  ;  or 
he  is  a  mild,    undesigning    prince,    who,    provided 
they  indulge  him  with  a  little  state  and  pageantry 
would  of  himself  intend  no  mischief.     On  the  first 
supposition,  it  must  soon  be  decided  by  the  sword, 
whether  the  constitution  should  be  lost  or  preserved. 
On  the  second,  a  prince,  no  way  qualified  for  the 
execution  of  a  great  and  hazardous  enterprise,  and 
without  any  determined  object  in  view,  may  never- 
theless be  driven  into  such  desperate  measures,  as 
may  lead  directly  to  his  ruin  j  or  disgrace  himself 
by  a  shameful  fluctuation  between  the  extremes  of 
violence  at  one  moment,  and  timidity  at  another, 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  29 

The  minister,  perhaps,  may  have  reason  to  be  satis- 
tied  with  the  success  of  the  present  hour,  and  with 
the  profits  of  his  employment.     He  is  the  tenant  of 
die   day,    and    has   no  interest  in    the    inheritance. 
The  sovereign  himself  is  bound  by  other  obligations, 
and  ought  to  look  forward  to  a  superior,   a  perma- 
nent  interest.     His    paternal  tenderness  should  re- 
mind him  how  many  hostages  he  has  given  to  so- 
ciety.    The  ties  of  nature  come  powerfully  in  aid 
of  oaths  and  protestations.     The  father,  who    con- 
siders  his  own  precarious  state  of  health,  and  the 
possible  hazard  of  a  long  minority,  will  wish  to  see 
the  family   estate   free   and   unincumbered.*     What 
is  the  dignity  of  the  crown,  though  it  were  really 
maintained ;   what  is  the  honour  of  parliament,   sup- 
posing it  could  exist  without  any  foundation  of  in- 
tegrity and  justice;  or  what  is  the  vain  reputation 
of  firmness,  even  if  the  scheme  of  the  government 
were    uniform    and   consistent,    compared   with   the 
heart-felt  affections  of  the  people,  with  the  happiness 
and  security  of  the  royal  family,  or  even  with  the 
grateful  acclamations  of  the  populace?     Whatever 
style  of  contempt  may  be  adopted  by  ministers  or 
parliaments,  no  man  sincerely  despises  the  voice  of 
the   English   nation.     The   house  of  commons   are 
only  interpreters,   whose    duty    it  is  to   convey  the 
sense  of  the  people  faithfully  to  the  crown.     If  the 
interpretation  be  false  or  imperfect,   the  constituent 
powers  are  called  upon  to  deliver  their  own  serrti- 

*  Every  true  friend  to  the  house  of  Brunswick  sees  with 
Hflliction  how  rapidly  some  of  the  principal  branches  of  the 
amily  have  dropped  off 


30  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

meats.  Their  speech  is  rude,  hut  intelligible  ;  their 
gestures  fierce,  but  full  of  explanation.  Perplexed 
by  sophistries,  their  honest  eloquence  rises  into 
action.  Their  first  appeal  was  to  the  integrity  of 
their  representatives ;  their  second,  to  the  king's 
justice.  The  last  argument  of  the  people,  whenever 
they  have  recourse  to  it,  will  carry  more  perhaps, 
than  persuasion  to  parliament,  or  supplication  to  the 
throne. 

JUNIUS. 


XXXIX. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  May  28,  1770. 

While  parliament  was  sitting,  it  would  neither 
have  been  safe,  or,  perhaps,  quite  regular,  to  offer 
any  opinion  to  the  public  upon  the  justice  or  wis- 
dom of  their  proceedings.  To  pronounce  fairly 
upon  their  conduct,  it  was  necessary  to  wait  until 
we  could  consider,  in  one  view,  the  beginning,  pro- 
gress, and  conclusion  of  their  deliberations.  Tlie 
cause  of  the  public  was  undertaken  and  supported 
by  men,  whose  abilities  and  united  authority,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  advantageous  ground  they  stood  on, 
might  well  be  thought  sufficient  to  determine  a  po- 
pular question  in  favour  of  the  people.  Neither  was 
the  house  of  commons  so  absolutely  engaged  in 
defence  of  the  ministry,  or  even  of  their  own  reso- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  3i 

Jtitions,  but  that  they  might  have  paid  some  decent 
regard  to  the  known  disposition  of  their  constitu- 
ents ;  and  without  any  dishonour  to  their  firmness, 
■might  have  retracted  an  opinion  too  hastily  adopted, 
when  they  saw  the  alarm  it  had  created,  and  how 
strongly  it  was  opposed  by  the  general  sense  of 
the  nation.  The  ministry,  too,  would  have  con- 
sulted their  own  immediate  interest  in  making  some 
ooncession  satisfactory  to  the  moderate  part  of  the 
people.  Without  touching  the  fact,  they  might 
have  consented  to  guard  against,  or  give  up,  the 
dangerous  principle  on  which  it  was  established. 
In  this  state  of  things,  I  think  it  was  highly  im- 
probable, at  the  beginning  of  the  session,  that  the 
complaints  of  the  people  upon  a  matter,  which  in 
their  apprehension  at  least,  immediately  affected  the 
life  of  the  constitution,  would  be  treated  with  as 
much  contempt  by  their  own  representatives,  and  by 
the  house  of  lords,  as  they  had  been  by  the  other 
branch  of  the  legislature.  Despairing  of  their  in- 
legrity,  we  had  a  right  to  expect  something  from 
their  prudence,  and  something  from  their  fears. 
The  duke  of  Grafton  certainly  did  not  foresee  to 
what  an  extent  the  corruption  of  a  parliament 
might  be  carried.  He  thought,  perhaps,  that  there 
was  still  some  portion  of  shame  or  virtue  left  in  the 
majority  of  the  house  of  commons,  or  that  there 
was  a  line  in  public  prostitution  beyond  which  they 
would  scruple  to  proceed.  Had  the  young  man  been 
a  little  more  practised  in  the  world,  or  had  he 
ventured  to  measure  the  characters  of  other  men 
by  his  own,  he  would  not  have  been  so  easily 
discouraged. 


32  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

The  prorogation  of  parliament  naturally  calls 
upon  us  to  review  their  proceedings,  and  to  con- 
sider the  condition  in  which  they  have  left  the  king- 
dom. I  do  not  question  but  they  have  done  what 
is  usually  called  the  king's  business,  much  to  his 
majesty's  satisfaction  :  we  have  only  to  lament,  that, 
in  oonseqnence  of  a  system  introduced  or  revived 
in  the  present  reign,  this  kind  of  merit  should  be 
very  consistent  with  the  neglect  of  every  duty  they 
owe  to  the  nation.  The  interval  between  the  open- 
ing of  the  last,  and  close  of  the  former  session,  was 
longer  than  usual.  Whatever  were  the  views  of  the 
minister  in  deferring  the  meeting  of  parliament, 
sufficient  time  was  certainly  given  to  every  member 
of  the  house  of  commons,  to  look  back  upon  the 
steps  he  had  taken,  and  the  consequences  they  had 
produced.  The  zeal  of  party,  the  violence  of  per- 
sonal animosities,  and  the  heat  of  contention,  had 
leisure  to  subside.  From  that  period,  whatever  re- 
solution they  took  was  deliberate  and  prepense. 
In  the  preceding  session,  the  dependents  of  the 
ministry  had  affected  to  believe,  that  .the  final  deter- 
mination of  the  question  would  have  satisfied  the 
nation,  or  at  least  put  a  stop  to  their  complaints ; 
as  if  the  certainty  of  an  evil  could  diminish  the  sense 
of  it,  or  the  nature  of  injustice  could  be  altered  by 
decision.  But  they  found  the  people  of  England 
were  in  a  temper  very  distant  from  submission  ;  and 
although  it  was  contended  that  the  house  of  commons 
could  not  themselves  reverse  a  resolution  which  had 
the  force  and  effect  of  a  judicial  sentence,  there  were 
other  constitutional  expedients  which  would  have 
^iven  a  security  against  any  similar  attempts  for  the 


JUNIUS  S   LETTERS.  33 

fUture.  The  general  proposition,  in  which  the  whole 
country  had  an  interest,  might  have  been  reduced  to 
a  particular  fact,  in  which  Mr.  Wilkes  and  Mr.  Lut- 
trell  would  alone  have  been  concerned.  The  house 
of  lords  might  interpose  ;  the  king  might  dissolve  the 
parliament ;  or  if  every  other  resource  failed,  there 
still  lay  a  grand  constitutional  writ  of  error,  in  be- 
half of  the  people,  from  the  decision  of  one  court  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  whole  legislature.  Every  one  of 
these  remedies  has  been  successively  attempted.  The 
people  performed  their  part  with  dignity,  spirit,  and 
perseverance.  For  many  months  his  majesty  heard 
nothing  from  his  people  but  the  language  of  complaint 
and  resentment:  unhappily  for  this  country,  it  was  th& 
daily  triumph  of  his  courtiers,  that  he  heard  it  with 
an  indifference  approaching  contempt. 

The  house  of  commons,  having  assumed  a  power 
unknown  to  the  constitution,  were  determined  not 
merely  to  support  it  in  the  single  instance  in  ques- 
tion, but  to  maintain  the  doctrine  in  its  utmost  ex-~ 
tent,  and  to  establish  the  fact  as  a  precedent  in  law, 
to  be  applied  in  whatever  manner  his  majesty's  ser- 
vants should  hereafter  think  fit.  Their  proceedings 
upon  this  occasion  are  a  strong  proof  that  a  decision, 
in  the  first  instance  illegal  and  unjust,  can  only  be 
supported  by  a  continuation  of  falehood  and  injustice. 
To  support  their  former  resolutions,  they  were  obliged 
to  violate  some  of  the  best  known  and  established 
rules  of  the  house.  In  one  instance,  they  went  so 
far  as  to  declare,  in  open  defiance  of  truth  and  com- 
mon sense,  that  it  was  not  the  rule  of  the  house  to 

divide  a  complicated  question  at  the  request  of  a 
B  2  3 


34  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

member.*  But,  after  trampling  upon  the  laws  of  the 
land,  it  was  not  wonderful  that  they  should  treat  the 
private  regulations  of  their  own  assembly  with  equal 
disregard.  The  speaker,  being  young  in  office,  be 
gan  with  pretended  ignorance,  and  ended  with  de 
ciding  for  the  ministry.  We  are  not  surprised  at  the 
decision ;  but  he  hesitated  and  blushed  at  his  own 
baseness,  and  every  man  was  astonished.! 

The  interest  of  the  public  was  vigorously  support- 
ed in  the  house  of  lords.  The  right  to  defend  the 
constitution  against  an  encroachment  of  the  other 
estates,  and  the  necessity  of  exerting  it  at  this  period, 
was  urged  to  them  with  every  argument  that  could  be 
supposed  to  influence  the  heart  or  the  understanding. 


*  The  extravagant  resolution  appears  in  the  vote  of  the 
house ;  but,  in  the  minutes  of  the  committees,  the  in- 
stances of  resolutions  contrary  to  law  and  truth,  or  of  re- 
fusals to  acknowledge  law  and  truth  when  proposed  to  them, 
are  innumerable. 

f  When  tire  king  first  made  it  a  measure  of  his  govern- 
ment to  destroy  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  when,  for  this  purpose,  it 
was  necessary  to  run  down  privilege,  Sir  Fletcher  Norton, 
with  his  usual  prostituted  effrontery,  assured  the  house  of 
commons,  that  he  should  regard  one  of  their  votes  no  more 
than  a  resolution  of  so  many  drunken  porters.  This  is 
the  very  lawyer  whom  Ben  Jonson  describes  in  the  follow- 
ing lines : 


"  Gives  forked  counsel ;  takes  provoking  gold 
On  either  hand,  and  puts  it  up. 
So  wise,  so  grave,  of  so  perplex'd  a  tongue, 
And  loud  withal,  that  would  not  wag,  nor  scarce 
Lie  still,  without  a  fee." 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  35 

<But  it  soon  appeared  that  they  had  already  taken 
their  part,  and  were  determined  to  support  the  house 
of  commons,  not  only  at  the  expense  of  truth  and 
decency,  but  even  by  a  surrender  of  their  own  most 
important  rights.     Instead   of  performing  that  duty 
which  the  constitution  expected  from  them,  in  return 
for  the  dignity  and  independence  of  their  station,  in 
return  for  the  hereditary  share  it  has  given  them  in 
the  legislature,  the  majority  of  them  made  common 
cause  with  the  other  house  in  oppressing  the  people, 
and  established  another  doctrine  as  false  in  itself,  and, 
if  possible,  more  pernicious  to  the  constitution,  than 
that  on  which  the  Middlesex  election  was  determined. 
By  resolving,  "  that  they  had  no  right  to  impeach  a 
judgment   of  the   house   of  commons,   in   any  case 
whatsoever,  where  that  house  has  a  competent  juris- 
diction," they,  in  effect,  gave  up  that  constitutional 
check  and-  reciprocal  control  of  one  branch  of  the 
legislature  over  the   other,  which   is,    perhaps,    the 
greatest  and  most  important  object  provided  for  by 
the  division  of  the  whole  legislative  power  into  three 
estates  :  and   now   let  the  judicial   decisions   of  the 
house  of  commons  be  ever  so  extravagant,  let  their 
declarations  of  the  law  be  ever  so  flagrantly  false, 
arbitrary,  and  oppressive  to  the  subject,  the  house  of 
lords  have  imposed  a  slavish  silence  upon  themselves  j 
they  cannot  interpose ;  they  cannot  protect  the  sub- 
ject ;  they  cannot  defend  the  laws  of  their  country. 
A  concession  so  extraordinary  in  itself,  so  contradic- 
tory to  the  principles  of  their  own  institution,  cannot 
but   alarm  the  most  unsuspecting  mind.     We  may 
well  conclude  that  the  lords  would  hardly  have  yielded 
so  much  to  the  other  house  w  ithout  the  certainty  of  a 


36  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

compensation,  which  can  only  be  made  to  them  at 
the  expense  of  tire  people.*  The  arbitrary  power 
they  have  assumed,  of  imposing  fines,  and  commit- 
ting during  pleasure,  will  now^be  exercised  in  its  full 
extent.  The  house  of  commons  are  too  much  in 
their  debt  to  question  or  interrupt  their  proceedings. 
The  crown  too,  we  may  be  well  assured,  will  lose 
nothing  in  this  new  distribution  of  power.  After  de- 
claring, that,  to  petition  for  a  dissolution  of  parlia- 
ment is  irreconcilable  with  the  principles  of  the  con- 
stitution, his  majesty  has  reason  to  expect  that  some 
extraordinary  compliment  will  be  returned  to  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  three  branches  of  the  legis- 
lature seem  to  treat  their  separate  rights  and  interests 
as  the  Roman  triumvirs  did  their  friends  ;  they  reci- 
procally sacrifice  them  to  the  animosities  of  each 
other ;  and  establish  a  detestable  union  among  them- 
selves, upon  the  ruin  of  the  laws  and  liberty  of  the 
commonwealth.  Through  the  whole  proceedings  oi 
the  house  of  commons,  in  this  session,  there  is  an 
apparent,  a  palpable  consciousness  of  guilt,  which 
has  prevented  their  daring  to  assert  their  own  dignity, 
where  it  has  been  immediately  and  grossly  attacked. 
In  the  course  of  Dr.  Musgrave's  examination,  he 
said  every  thing  that  can  be  conceived  mortifying  to 
individuals,  or  offensive  to  the  house.     They  voted 

*  The  man,  who  resists  and  overcomes  this  iniquitous 
power,  assumed  by  the  lords,  must  be  supported  by  the 
whole  people.  We  have  the  laws  on  our  side,  and  want" 
nothing  but  an  intrepid  'leader.  When  such  a  man  stands 
forth,  let  the  nation  look  to  it.  It  is  Hot  his  cause,  but  ou> 
own. 


JUNIUS  S   LETTERS.  3? 

his  information  frivolous  :  but  they  were  awed  by  his 
firmness   and  integrity,  and   sunk  under  it.*     The 
terms  in  which  the  sale  of  a  patent  to  Mr.  Hine  were 
communicated  to  the  public,  naturally  called  for  a 
parliamentary  inquiry.     The  integrity  of  the  house 
of  commons  was  directly  impeached  :  but  they  had 
not  courage  to  move  in  their  own  vindication,  because 
the  inquiry  would  have  been  fatal  to  colonel  Burgoyuc 
and  the  duke  of  Grafton.     When  sir  George  Saville 
branded  them  with  the  name  of  traitors  to  their  con- 
stituents, when  the  lord  mayor,  the  sheriffs,  and  Mr. 
Trecothick  expressly  avowed  and  maintained  every 
part  of  the  city  remonstrance,  why  did  they  tamely 
submit  to  be  intuited  ?     Why  did  they  not  immedi- 
ately expel  those  refractory  members  ?    Conscious  of 
the  motives  on  which  they  had  acted,  the}'  prudently 
preferred  infamy  to  danger,  and  were  better  prepared 
fo  meet  the  contempt,  than  to  rouse  the  indignation 
of  the  whole  people.     Had  they  expelled  those  five 
members,  the  consequeitces  of  the  new  doctrine  of 
incapacitation  would  have  come  immediately  home  to 
every  roan.     The  truth  of  it  would  then  have  been 
feirly  tried,  without  any  reference  to  Mr.  Wilkes's 
private  character,  or  the  dignity  of  the  house,  or  the 
obstinacy  of  one  particular  county.     These  topics,  I 
know,  have  had  their  weight  with  men,  who,  affecting 
a  character  of  moderation,  in  reality  consult  nothing 

*  The  examination  of  this  firm,  honest  man,  is  printed 
lor  Ahnon.  The  reader  will  find  it  *  most  curious  and  most 
interesting  tract.  Doctor  Musgrave,  with  no  other  support 
but  truth  and  his  own  firmness,  resisted  and  overcame  the 
whole  house  of  commons. 


38  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

But  their  ovvu  immediate  ease  ;  who  are  weak  enough 
to  acquiesce  under  a  flagrant  violation  of  the  laws 
when  it  does  not  directly  touch  themselves ;  and  care 
not  what  injustice  is  practised  upon  a  man  whose 
moral  character  they  piously  think  themselves  obliged 
to  condemn.  In  any  other  circumstances,  the  house 
of  commons  must  have  forfeited  all  credit  and  dignity, 
if,  after  such  gross  provocation,  they  had  permitted 
Those  five  gentlemen  to  sit  any  longer  among  them. 
We  should  then  have  seen  and  felt  the  operation  of  a 
precedent,  which  is  represented  to  be  perfectly  barren 
and  harmless.  But  there  is  a  set  of  men  in  this  coun- 
try, whose  understandings  measure  the  violation  of 
Jaw  by  the  magnitude  of  the  instance,  not  by  the  im- 
portant consequences  which  flow  directly  from  the 
principle ;  and  the  minister,  I  presume,  did  not  think 
it  safe  to  quicken  their  apprehensions  too  soon.  Had 
Mr.  Hampden  reasoned  and  acted  like  the  moderate 
men  of  these  days,  instead  of  hazarding  his  whole 
fortune  in  a  lawsuit  with  the  crown,  he  would  have 
quietly  paid  the  twenty  shillings  demanded  of  bhn  f 
the  Stuart  family  would  probably  have  continued 
upon  the  throne  ;  and  at  this  moment  the  imposition* 
o,f  ship-money  would  have  been  an  acknowledged 
prerogative  of  the  jcrown. 

What  then  has  been  the  business  of  the  session,  af- 
ter voting  the  supplies,  and  confirming  the  determin- 
ation of  the  Middlesex  election  ?  The  extraordinary 
prorogation  of  the  Irish  parliament,  and  the  just 
discontents  of  that  kingdom,  have  been  passed  by 
without  notice.  Neither  the  general  situation  of  our 
colonies,  nor  that  particular  distress  which  forced  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston  to  take  up  arms  in  their  de-: 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  39 

fence,  have  been  thought  worthy  of  a  moment's  con- 
sideration. In  the  repeal  of  those  acts  which  were 
most  offensive  to  America,  the  parliament  have  done 
every  thing  but  remove  the  offence.  They  have  re- 
linquished the  revenue,  but  judiciously  taken  care  to 
preserve  the  contention.  It  is  not  pretended  that  the 
continuation  of  the  tea-duty  is  to  produce  any  direct 
benefit  whatsoever  to  the  mother  country.  What  is 
it  then,  but  an  odious,  unprofitable  exertion  of  a 
speculative  right,  and  fixing  a  badge  of  slavery  upon 
the  Americans,  without  service  to  their  masters  ?  But 
it  has  pleased  God  to  give  us  a  ministry  and  a  par- 
liament, who  are  neither  to  be  persuaded  by  argu- 
ment, nor  instructed  by  experience. 

Lord  North,  I  presume,  will  not  claim  an  extra- 
ordinary merit  from  any  thing  he  has  done  this  year. 
in  the  improvement  or  application  of  the  revenue. 
A  great  operation,  directed  to  an  important  object, 
though  it  should  fail  of  success,  marks  the  genius, 
and  elevates  the  character  of  a  minister.  A  poor, 
contracted  understanding  deals  in  little  schemes, 
which  dishonour  him  if  they  fail,  and  do  him  no 
credit  when  they  succeed.  Lord  North  lrnd  fortu- 
nately the  means  in  his  possession  of  reducing  all  the 
four  per  cents,  at  once.  The  failure  of  his  first  en- 
terprise in  finance  is  not  half  so  disgraceful  to  his  re- 
putation as  a  minister,  as  the  enterprise  itself  is  in- 
jurious to  the  public.  Instead  of  striking  one  deci- 
sive blow,  which  would  have  cleared  the  market  at 
once,  upon  terms  proportioned  to  the  price  of  the 
four  per  cents,  six  weeks  ago,  he  has  tampered  with 
a  pitiful  portion  of  a  commodity  which  ought  never 
to  have  been  touched  but  in  gross.     He  has  given 


40  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

notice  to  the  holders  of  that  stock,  of  a  design  formed 
by  government  to  prevail  upon  them  to  surrender  it 
hy  degrees,  consequently  has  warned  them  to  hold 
up  and  enhance  the  price  :  so  that  the  plan  of  redu- 
cing the  four  per  cents,  must  either  be  dropped  en- 
tirely, or  continued  with  an  increasing  disadvantage 
to  the  public.  The  minister's  sagacity  has  served  to 
raise  the  value  of  the  thing  he  means  to  purchase,  and 
to  sink  that  of  the  three  per  cents,  which  it  is  his  pur- 
pose to  sell.  In  effect;  he  has  contrived  to  make  it 
the  interest  of  the  proprietor  of  the  four  per  cents,  to 
sell  out,  and  buy  three  per  cents,  in  the  market,  ra- 
ther than  subscribe  his  stock  upon  any  terms  that  can 
possibly  be  offered  by  government. 

The  state  of  the  nation  leads  us  naturally  to  con- 
sider the  situation  of  the  king.  The  prorogation  <W* 
parliament  has  the  effect  of  a  temporary  dissolution. 
The  odium  of  measures  adopted  by  the  collective  bo- 
dy sits  lightly  upon  the  separate  members  who  com- 
posed it.  They  retire  into  summer  quarters,  and  rest 
from  the  disgraceful  labours  of  the  campaign.  But 
as  for  the  sovereign,  it  is  not  so  ivith  Mm  :  he  has  a 
permanent  existence  in  this  country  ;  he  cannot  with- 
draw himself  from  the  complaints,  the  discontents, 
the  reproaches  of  his  subjects.  They  pursue  him  to 
his  retirement,  and  invade  his  domestic  happiness, 
when  no  address  can  be  obtained  from  an  obsequious 
parliament  to  encourage  or  console  him.  In  other 
times,  the  interest  of  the  king  and  the  people  of 
England  was,  as  it  ought  to  be,  entirely  the  same.  A 
new  system  has  not  only  been  adopted  in  fact,  but 
professed  upon  principle.  Ministers  are  no  longer  the 
public  servants  of  the  state,  but  the  private  domestics 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  41 

of  the  sovereign.  One*  particular  class  of  men  are 
permitted  to  call  themselves  the  king's  friends,  as  if 
the  body  of  the  people  were  the  king's  enemies  ;  or, 
as  if  his  majesty  looked  for  a  resource  or  consolation 
in  the  attachment  of  a  few  favourites,  against  the 
general  contempt  and  detestation  of  his  subjects. 
Edward  and  Richard  the  Second  made  the  same  dis- 
tinction between  the  collective  body  of  the  people, 
and  a  contemptible  party,  who  surrounded  the  throne. 
The  event  of  their  mistaken  conduct  might  have  been 
a  warning  to  their  successors.  Yet  the  errors  of  those 
princes  were  not  without  excuse.  They  had  as  many 
false  friends  as  our  present  gracious  sovereign,  and 
infinitely  greater  temptations  to  seduce  them.  They 
were  neither  sober,  religious,  «or  demure.  Intoxi- 
cated with  pleasure,  they  wasted  their  inheritance  in 
pursuit  of  it.  Their  lives  were  like  a  rapid  torrent, 
brilliant  in  prospect,  though  useless  or  dangerous  in 
its  course.  In  the  dull  unanimated  existence  of  other 
princes,  we  see  nothing  but  a  sickly  stagnant  water, 
which  taints  the  atmosphere,  without  fertilising  the 
soil.  The  morality  of  a  king  is  not  to  be  measured 
by  vulgar  rules.  His  situation  is  singular  :  there  are 
faults  which  do  him  honour,  and  virtues  that  disgrace 
him.  A  faultless,  insipid  equality  in  his  character,  is 
neither  capable  of  virtue  or  vice  in  the  extreme ;  but 
it  secures  his  submission  to  those  persons  whom  he 

*  u  An  ignorant,  mercenary,  and  servile  crew;  unani- 
mous in  evil,  diligent  in  mischief,  variable  in  principles,  con- 
stant to  flattery,  talkers  for  liberty,  but  slaves  to  power : 
styling  themselves  the  court  party,  and  the  prince's  only 
friends."     Dacenant. 


a  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS'. 

has  been  accustomed  to  respect,  and  makes  him  a 
dangerous   instrument  of  their  ambition.     Secluded 
from  the  world,  attached  from  his  infancy  to  one  set 
of  persons  and  one  set  of  ideas,  he  can  neither  open 
his  heart  to  new  connexions,  nor  his  mind  to  better 
information.     A  character  of  this  sort  is  the  soil  fit- 
test to  produce  that  obstinate  bigotry  in  politics  and 
religion,  which  begins  with  a  meritorious  sacrifice  of 
the  understanding,  and  finally  conducts  the  monarch 
and  the  martyr  to  the  block.     At  any  other  period,  I 
doubt  not,,  the  scandalous  disorders  which  have  been 
introduced  into  the  government  of  all  the  dependen- 
cies in  the  empire,  would  have  roused  the  attention  of 
the  public.    The  odious  abuse  and  prostitution  of  the 
prerogative   at  home  ;  the  unconstitutional  employ- 
ment of  the  military  ;  the  arbitrary  fines  and  com- 
mitments by  the  house  of  lords  and  court  of  king's 
bench ;  the  mercy  of  a  chaste  and  pious  prince  ex- 
tended cheerfully  to  a  wilful  murdere^  because  that 
murderer  is   the  brother  of  a  common  prostitute  ;* 
would,  I  think,  at  any  other  time,  have  excited  uni- 
versal indignation.     But  the  daring  attack  upon  the 
constitution,  in  the  Middlesex  election,  makes  us  cal- 
lous and  indifferent  to  inferior  grievances.     No  man 
regards  an  eruption  upon  the  surface,  when  the  noble 
parts  are  invaded,  and  he  feels  a  mortification  ap- 
proaching to  his  heart.     The  free  election  of  our  re- 
presentatives in  parliament  comprehends,  because  it 
is,  the  source  and  security  of  every  right  and  privi- 
hege  of  the  English  nation.     The  ministry  have  re- 
alised the  compendious  ideas  of  Caligula.      They 

*  Miss  Kennedy.  » 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  4$ 

know  that  the  liberty,  the  laws,  and  property  of  an 
Englishman,  have,  in  truth,  but  one  neck,  and  that 
to  violate  the  freedom  of  election,  strikes  deeply  at 
fhem  all. 

JUNIUS. 


** 


XL. 

To  Lord  North. 

MY  LORD,  August  22,  1770. 

Mr.  Lultrell's  services  were  the  chief  support  and 
ornament  of  the  duke  of  Grafton *s  administration. 
The  honour  of  rewarding  them  was  reserved  for  your 
lordship.  The  duke,  it  seems,  had  contracted  an 
obligation  he  was  ashamed  to  acknowledge,  and  una- 
ble to  acquit.  You,  my  lord,  had  no  scruples.  You 
accepted  the  succession  with  all  its  encumbrances,  and 
have  paid  Mr.  Luttrell  his  legacy,  at  the  hazard  of 
ruining  the  estate. 

When  this  accomplished  youth  declared  himself  the 
champion  of  government,  the  world  was  busy,  in- 
quiring what  honours  or  emoluments  could  be  a  suf- 
ficient recompense  to  a  young  man  of  his  rank  and 
fortune,  for  submitting  to  mark  his  entrance  into  life 
with  the  universal  contempt  and  detestation  of  his 
country.  His  noble  father  had  not  been  so  precipi- 
tate. To  vacate  Ins  seat  in  parliament ;  to  intrude 
upon  a  county  in  which  he  had  no  interest  or  con- 
nexion ;  to  possess  himself  of  another  man's  right,, 
and  to  maintain  it  in  defiance  of  public  shame,  as 


44  JUNIUSS   LETTERS'. 

Svell  as  justice,  bespoke  a  degree  of  zeal  or  of  depravi- 
ty, which  all  the  favour  of  a  pious  prince  could  hard- 
ly requite.  I  protest,  my  lord,  there  is  in  this  young 
man's  conduct  a  strain  of  prostitution,  which,  for  its 
singularity,  I  cannot  but  admire.  He  has  discovered 
a  new  line  in  the  human  character  ;  he  has  degraded 
even  the  name  of  Luttrell,  and  gratified  his  father's 
most  sanguine  expectations. 

The  duke  of  Grafton,  with  every  possible  disposi- 
tion to  patronize  this  kind  of  merit,  was  contented 
with  pronouncing  colonel  Luttrell 's  panegyric.  The 
gallant  spirit,  the  disinterested  zeal  of  the  young  ad- 
venturer, were  echoed  through  the  house  of  lords. 
His  grace  repeatedly  pledged  himself  to  the  house, 
as  an  evidence  of  the  purity  of  his  friend  Mr.  Lut- 
trell's  intentions,  that  he  had  engaged  without  any 
prospect  of  personal  benefit,  and  that  the  idea  of 
compensation  would  mortally  offend  him.*  The  no- 
ble duke  could  hardly  be  in  earnest ;  but  he  had  late- 
ly quitted  his  employment,  and  began  to  think  it  ne- 
cessary to  take  some  care  of  his  reputation.  At  that 
very  moment  the  Irish  negotiation  was  probably  be- 
gun. Come  forward,  thou  worthy  representative  of 
lord  Bute,  and  tell  this  insulted  country,  who  advised 
the  king  to  appoint  Mr.  Luttrell  adjutant-general  to 
the  army  in  Ireland.  By  what  management  was 
colonel  Cunninghame  prevailed  on  to  resign  his  em- 
ployment, and  the  obsequious  Gisborne  to  accept  of 
a  pension  for  the  government  of  Kinsale  ?t     Was  it 

*  He  now  says  that  his  great  object  is  the  rank  of  colo- 
nel, and  that  he  will  have  it. 

t  This  infamous  transaction  ought  to  be  explained  to  the 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  45 

an  original  stipulation  with  the  princess  of  Wales  ;  Da- 
does he  owe  his  preferment  to  your  lordship's  par- 
tiality, or  to  the  duke  of  Bedford's  friendship  ?  My 
lord,  though  it  may  not  be  possible  to  trace  this  mea- 
sure to  its  source,  we  can  follow  the  stream,  an<1 
warn  the  country  of  its  approaching  destruction. 
The  English  nation  must  be  roused,  and  put  upon 
its  guard.  Mr.  Luttrell  has  already  shown  us  how 
Jar  he  may  be  trusted,  whenever  an  open  attack  is  to 
be  made  upon  the  liberties  of  this  country.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  there  is  a  deliberate  plan  formed.  Your 
lordship  best  knows  by  whom.  The  corruption  of 
the  legislative  body  on  this  side,  a  military  force  on 
the  other,  and  then,  farewell  to  England !  It  is  im- 
possible that  any  minister  shall  dare  to  advise  the 
king  to  place  such  a  man  as  Lnttrell  in  the  confident 
tial  post  of  adjutant-general,  if  there  were  not  some 
secret  purpose  in  view,  which  only  such  a  man  as 
Luttrell  is  fit  to  promote.  The  insult  offered  to  the 
army  in  general  is  as  gross  as  the  outrage  intended 

public.  Colonel  Gisborne  was  quarter-raastcr-generai  in 
Ireland.  Lord  Townshcnd  persuaded  him  to  resign  to  a 
Scotch  officer,  one  Frazer,  and  drives  him  the  government 
of  Kinsale.  Colonel  Cunninghame  was  adjutant-general  in 
Ireland.  Lord  Townshend  offers  him  a  pension,  to  induce 
him  to  resign  to  Luttrell.  Cunninghame  treats  the  offer 
with  contempt.  What's  to  be  done  ?  Poor  Gisborne  must 
move  once  more.  He  accepts  of  «  pension  of  .r>00/.  a  year, 
until  a  government  of  greater  value  shall  become  vacant , 
Colonel  Cunninghame  is  made  governor  of  Kinsale;  and 
Luttrell,  at  last,  for  whom  the  whole  machinery  is  put  in 
motion,  becomes  adjutant-general,  and,  in  effect,  takes 
Jhe  command  of  .the  army  in  Ireland. 


46  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

to  the  people  of  England.  What !  lieutenant-colo- 
nel Luttrell  adjutant-general  of  an  army  of  sixteen 
thousand  men  !  One  would  think  his  majesty's  cam- 
paigns at  Blackheath  and  Wimbledon  might  have 
taught  him  better.  I  cannot  help  wishing  general 
Harvey  joy  of  a  colleague  who  does  so  much  honour 
to  the  employment.  But,  my  lord,  this  measure  is 
too  daring  to  pass  unnoticed,  too  dangerous  to  be 
received  with  indifference  or  submission.  You  shall 
not  have  time  to  new  model  the  Irish  army.  They 
will  not  submit  to  be  garbled  by  colonel  Luttrell.  As 
a  mischief  to  the  English  constitution,  (for  he  is  not 
worth  the  name  of  enemy)  they  already  detest  him. 
As  a  boy,  impudently  thrust  over  their  headsj  they 
will  receive  him  with  indignation  and  contempt.  As 
for  you,  my  lord,  who,  perhaps,  are  no  more  than 
jhe  blind,  unhappy  instrument  of  lord  Bute  and  her 
royal  highness  the  princess  of  Wales,  be  assured,  that 
you  shall  be  called  upon  to  answer  for  the  advice 
which  has  been  given,  and  either  discover  your  ac- 
complices, or  fall  a  sacrifice  to  their  security. 

JUNIUS. 


XLI. 


To  the  Right  Honourable  Lord  Mansfield. 

MY  LORD,  November  14,  1770. 

The  appearance  of  this  letter  will  attract  the  cu- 
riosity of  the  public,  and  command  even  your  lord- 
ship's attention.     I  am  considerably  in  your  debt,  and 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  47 

shall  endeavour,  once  for  all,  to  balance  the  account 
Accept  of  this  address,  my  lord,  as  a  prologue  to 
more  important  scenes,  in  which  you  will  probably 
be  called  upon  to  act  or  suffer.  v 

You  will  not  question  my  veracity,  when  I  assure 
you,  that  it  has  not  been  owing  to  any  particular  re- 
spect for  your  person  that  I  have  abstained  from  you 
so  long.  Besides  the  distress  and  danger  with  which 
the  press  is  threatened,  when  your  lordship  is  party, 
and  the  party  is  to  be  judge,  I  confess  I  have  been 
deterred  by  the  difficulty  of  the  task.  Our  language 
lias  no  term  of  reproach,  the  mind  has  no  idea  of  de- 
testation, which  has  not  already  been  happily  applied 
to  you,  and  exhausted.  Ample  justice  has  been  done. 
by  abler  pens  than  mine,  to  the  separate  merits  of 
your  life  and  character.  Let  it  be  my  humble  office 
to  collect  the  scattered  sweets  till  their  united  virtue 
tortures  the  sense. 

Permit  me  to  begin  with  paying  a  just  tribute  to 
Scotch  sincerity,  wherever  I  find  it.  I  own  I  am  not 
apt  to  confide  in  the  professions  of  gentlemen  of  that 
country  ;  and,  when  they  smile,  I  feel  an  involunta- 
ry emotion  to  guard  myself  against  mischief.  With 
this  general  opinion  of  an  ancient  nation,  I  always 
(hought  it  much  to  your  lordship's  honour,  that,  in 
your  earlier  days,  you  were  but  little  infected  with 
the  prudence  of  your  country.  You  had  some  origi- 
nal attachments,  which  you  took  every  proper  oppor- 
tupity  to  acknowledge.  The  liberal  spirit  of  youtli 
prevailed  over  your  native  discretion.  Your  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  an  unhappy  prince  was  expressed  with 
the  sincerity  of  wine,  and  some  of  the  solemnities  of 


48  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

religion.*  This,  I  conceive,  is  the  most  amiable 
point  of  view  in  which  your  character  has  appeared. 
Like  an  honest  man,  you  took  that  part  in  politics, 
which  might  have  been  expected  from  your  birth, 
education,  country,  and  connexions.  There  was 
something  generous  in  your  attachment  to  the  ban- 
ished house  of  Stuart.  We  lament  the  mistakes  of  a 
good  man,  and  do  not  begin  to  detest  him  until  he 
affects  to  renounce  his  principles.  Why  did  you  not 
adhere  to  that  loyalty  you  once  professed  ?  Why  did 
you  not  follow  the  example  of  your  worthy  brother?! 
With  him  you  might  have  shared  in  the  honour  of  the 
pretender's  confidence  ;  with  him  you  might  have 
preserved  the  integrity  of  your  character ;  and  Eng- 
land, I  think,  might  have  spared  3'ou  without  regret. 
Your  friends  will  say,  perhaps,  that,  although  you 
deserted  the  fortune  of  your  liege  lord,  you  have  ad- 
hered firmly  to  the  principles  which  drove  his  father 
i'rom  the  throne  ;  that,  without  openly  supporting  the 
person,  you  have  done  essential  service  to  the  cause  ; 
and  consoled  yourself  for  the  loss  of  a  favourite  fami- 
ly, by  reviving  and  establishing  the  maxims  of  their 
government.  This  is  the  way  in  which  a  Scotch 
man's  understanding  corrects  the  errors  of  his  heart. 
My  lord,  I  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the  defence,  and 
can  trace  it  through  all  your  conduct.  I  see  through 
your  whole  life  one  uniform  plan  to  enlarge  the  pow- 

*  This  man  was  always  a  rank  Jacobite.  Lord  Ravens- 
worth  produced  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  having 
-frequently  drank  the  pretender's  health  on  his  knees. 

t  Confidential  secretary  to  the  late  pretender.  This  cir- 
stance  confirmed  the  friendship  between  the  brothers. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  49 

ev  of  the  crown,  at  the  expense  of  the  liberty  of  the 
subject.     To  this  object  your  thoughts,  words,  and 
actions,  have  been  constantly  directed.     In  contempt 
or  ignorance  of  the  common  law  of  England,  you 
have  made  it  your  study  to  introduce  into  the  court 
where   you   preside,    maxims    of  jurisprudence  un- 
known to  Englishmen.     The  Roman  code,  the  law 
of  nations,  and  the  opinion  of  foreign  civilians,  are 
your  perpetual  theme  ;  but  whoever  heard  you  men- 
tion Magna  Charta,  or  the  Bill  of  Rights,  with  ap- 
probation or  respect  ?     By  such  treacherous  arts  the 
noble  simplicity  and  free  spirit  of  our  Saxon  law- 
were  first  corrupted.     The  Norman  conquest  was  not 
complete,  until  Norman  lawyers  had  introduced  their 
laws,  and  reduced  slavery  to  a  system.     This  one 
leading  principle  directs  your  interpretation  of  the 
laws,  and  accounts  for  your  treatment  of  juries.     It  is 
not  in  political  questions  only  (for  there  the  courtier 
might  be  forgiven,)  but  let  the  cause  be  what  it  may. 
your  understanding  is  equally  on  the  rack,  either  to 
contract  the  power  of  the  jury,  or  to  mislead  their 
judgment.    For  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  I  appeal  to 
the  doctrine  you  delivered  in  lord  Grosvenor's  cause. 
An  action  for  criminal  conversation  being  brought  by 
a.peer  against  a  prince  of  the  blood,  you  were  daring 
enough  to  tell  the  jury,  that,  in  fixing  the  damages, 
they  were  to  pay  no  regard  to  the  quality  or  fortune 
of  the  parties  :  that  it  was  a  trial  between  A  and  B  ; 
that  they  were  to  consider  the  offence  in  a  moral  light 
only,  and  give  no  greater  damages  to  a  peer  of  the 
realm,  than  to  the  meanest  mechanic.     I  shall  not 
attempt  to  refute  a  doctrine,  which  if  it  was  meant  for 
law,  carries  falsehood  and  absurdity  upon  the  face  of 
vol.  II.  C  4 


SO  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it  ;  but,  if  it  was  meant  for  a  declaration  of  your  po- 
litical creed,  is  clear  and  consistent.  Under  an  arbi- 
trary government,  all  ranks  and  distinctions  are  con- 
founded :  tbe  honour  of  a  nobleman  is  no  more  con- 
sidered than  the  reputation  of  a  peasant;  for,  with 
different  liveries,  they  are  equally  slaves. 

Even  in  matters  of  private  property,  we  see  the 
same  bias  and  inclination  to  depart  from  the  decisions 
of  your  predecessors,  which  you  certainly  ought  to 
receive  as  evidence  of  the  common  law.  Instead  ot 
those  certain  positive  rules  by  which  the  judgment  of 
a  court  of  law  should  invariably  be  determined,  you 
have  fondly  introduced  your  own  unsettled  notions 
of  equity  and  substantial  justice.  Decisions  given 
upon  such  principles  do  not  alarm  the  public  so  much 
as  the}r  ought,  because  the  consequence  and  tendency 
of  each  particular  instance  is  not  observed  or  re- 
garded. In  the  mean  time,  the  practice  gains  ground  t 
the  court  of  king's  bench  becomes  a  court  of  equity  ; 
and  the  judge,  instead  of  consulting  strictly  the  law  of 
the  land,  refers  only  to  the  wisdom  of  the  court,  and 
to  the  purity  of  his  own  conscience.  The  name  of 
Mr.  Justice  Yates  will  naturally  revive  in  your  mind 
some  of  those  emotions  of  fear  and  detestation  with 
which  you  always  beheld  him.  That  great  lawyer, 
that  honest  man,  saw  your  whole  conduct  in  the  light 
that  I  do.  After  years  of  ineffectual  resistance  to  the 
pernicious  principles  introduced  by  your  lordship,  and 
uniformly  supported  by  your  humble  friends  upon  the 
bench,  be  determined  to  quit  a  court,  whose  proceed- 
ings and  decisions  he  could  neither  assent  to  witl^ 
honour,  nor  oppose  with  success. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  51 

The  injustice  done  to  an  individual*  is  sometimes 
of  service  to  the  public.  Facts  are  apt  to  alarm  us 
more  than  the  most  dangerous  principles.  The  suf- 
ferings and  firmness  of  a  printer  have  roused  the 
public  attention.  You  knew  and  felt  that  your  con- 
duct would  not  bear  a  parliamentary  inquiry  ;  and 
you  hoped  to  escape  it  by  the  meanest,  the  basest, 
sacrifice  of  dignity  and  consistency  that  ever  was 
made  by  a  great  magistrate.  Where  was  your  firm- 
ness, where  was  that  vindictive  spirit,  of  which  we 
have  seen  so  many  examples,  when  a  man  so  incon- 
siderable as  Bingley  could  force  you  to  confess,  in 
the  face  of  this  country,  that,  for  two  years  together, 
you  had  illegally  deprived  an  English  subject  of  his 
liberty,  and  that  he  had  triumphed  over  you  at  last .? 
Yet,  I  own,  my  lord,  that  yours  is  not  an  uncom- 
mon character.  Women,  and  men  like  women,  are 
timid,  vindictive,  and  irresolute.  Their  passions 
counteract  each  other,  and  make  the  same  creature 
at  one  moment  hateful,  at  another  contemptible.  1 
fancy,  my  lord,  some  time  will  elapse  before  you 
venture  to  commit  another  Englishman  for  refusing 
to  answer  interrogatories.! 


*  The  oppression  of  an  obscure  individual  gave  birth  to 
the  famous  Habeas  Corpus  Act  of  31  Car.  II.  which  is 
frequently  considered  as  another  Magna  Charta  of  this 
kingdom.  Btackstone,  Hi.  135. 

t  Bingley  was  committed  for  contempt,  in  not  submitting 
to  be  examined.  He  lay  in  prison  two  years,  until  the 
crown  thought  the  matter  might  occasion  some  serious  com- 
plaint, and  therefore  he  was  let  out,  in  the  same  contume- 
lious state  he  had  been  put  in,  with  all  his  sins  about  him, 


52  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

The  doctrine  you  have  constantly  delivered,  in 
cases  of  libel,  is  another  powerful  evidence  of  a  set- 
tled plan  to  contract  the  legal  power  of  juries,  and 
to  draw  questions,  inseparable  from  fact,  within  the 
arbitrium  of  the  court.  Here,  my  lord,  you  have 
fortune  on  your  side.  When  you  invade  the  pro 
vince  of  the  jury,  in  matter  of  libel,  you,  in  effect, 
attack  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and,  with  a  single 
stroke,  wound  two  of  your  greatest  enemies.  In  some 
instances  you  have  succeeded,  because  jurymen  are 
too  often  ignorant  of  their  own  rights,  and  too  apt 
to  be  awed  by  the  authority  of  a  chief  justice.  In 
other  criminal  prosecutions,  the  malice  of  the  design 
is  confessedly  as  much  the  subject  of  consideration  to 
a  jury  as  the  certainty  of  the  fact.  If  a  different 
doctrine  prevails  in  the  case  of  libels,  why  should  it 
not  extend  to  all  criminal  cases  ?  Why  not  to  capi- 
tal offences  ?  I  see  no  reason  (and  I  dare  say  you 
will  agree  with  me,  that  there  is  no  good  one)  why 
the  life  of  the  subject  should  be  better  protected 
against  you,  than  his  liberty  or  property.  Why 
should  you  enjoy  the  full  power  of  pillory,  fine,  and 
imprisonment,  and  not  be  indulged  with  hanging  or 
transportation  ?  With  your  lordship's  fertile  genius 
and  merciful  disposition,  I  can  conceive  such  an  ex- 
ercise of  the  power  you  have,  as  could  hardly  be  ag- 
gravated by  that  which  you  have  not. 

But,  my  lord,  since  you  have  laboured  (and  not 

unanointed  and  unanealed.  There  was  much  coquetry  be- 
tween the  court  and  the  attorney  general,  about  who  should 
undergo  the  ridicule  of  letting  him  escape. — Vide  another 
Letter  to  Almon,  p.  189. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  53 

unsuccessfully)  to  destroy  the  substance  of  the  trial) 
why  should  you  suffer  the  form  of  the  verdict  to  re- 
main ?     Why  force  twelve  honest  men,  in  palpable 
violation  of  their  oaths,  to  pronounce  their  fellow- 
subject  a  guilty  man,  when,  almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, you  forbid  their  inquiring  into  the  only  cir- 
cumstance which,  in  the  eye  of  law  and  reason,  con- 
stitutes guilt — the  malignity  or  innocence  of  his  in- 
tentions ?     But  I  understand  your  lordship.     If  you 
could  succeed  in  making  the  trial  by  jury  useless  and 
ridiculous,  you  might  then,   with  greater  safety,   in- 
troduce a  bill  into  parliament  for  enlarging  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  court,  and  extending  your  favourite 
trial  by  interrogatories  to  every  question  in  which  the 
life  or  liberty  of  an  Englishman  is  concerned.* 

Your  charge  to  the  jury,  in  the  prosecution  against 
Almon  and  Woodfall,  contradicts  the  highest  legal 
authorities,  as  well  as  the  plainest  dictates  of  reason. 
In  Miller's  cause,  and  still  more  expressly  in  that  of 
Baldwin,  you   have  proceeded   a   step  farther,  and 

*  The  philosophical  poet  doth  notably  describe  the  dam- 
nable and  damned  proceedings  of  the  judge  of  hell. 

'  Gnossius  haec  Rhadamanthus  habet  durissima  regna, 
Castigatque,  auditque  dolos,  subigitque  fateri.' 

First  he  punisheth,  and  then  he  heareth,  and  lastly  com- 
pelled! to  confess,  and  makes  and  mars  laws  at  his  pleasure ; 
like  as  the  centurion,  in  the  holy  history,  did  to  St.  Taul  j 
for  the  text  saith,  '  Centurio  apprehendi  Paulum  jussit,  et 
se  catenis  alligari,  et  tunc  interrogabat  quis  fuisset,  et  quid 
fecisset.'  But  good  judges  and  justices  abhor  these  courses. 
Coke,  2  Inst.  53. 


54  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

grossby  contradicted  yourself.  You  may  know,  per- 
haps, though  I  do  not  mean  to  insult  you  by  an  ap- 
peal to  your  experience,  that  the  language  of  truth  is 
uniform  and  consistent.  To  depart  from  it  safely, 
requires  memory  and  discretion.  In  the  last  two 
trials,  your  charge  to  the  jury  began,  as  usual,  with 
assuring  them,  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
law;  that  they  were  to  find  the  bare  fact,  and  not 
concern  themselves  about  the  legal  inferences  drawn 
from  it,  or  the  degree  of  the  defendant's  guilt.  Thus 
far  you  were  consistent  with  your  former  practice. 
But  how  will  you  account  for  the  conclusion  ?  You 
told  the  jury,  that  "  if,  after  all,  they  would  take 
upon  themselves  to  determine  the  law,  they  might  do 
it,  but  they  must  be  very  sure  that  they  determined 
according  to  law  ;  for  it  touched  their  consciences, 
and  they  acted  at  their  peril."  If  I  understand  your 
first  proposition,  you  mean  to  affirm,  that  the  jury 
were  not  competent  judges  of  the  law  in  the  criminal 
case  of  a  libel;  that  it  did  not  fall  within  their  juris- 
diction ;  and  that  with  respect  to  them,  the  malice  or 
innocence  of  the  defendant's  intentions  would  be  a 
question  coram  non  jtidice.  But  the  second  proposi- 
tion clears  awajr  your  own  difficulties,  and  restores  the 
jury  to  all  their  judicial  capacities.*  You  make  the 
competence  of  the  court  to  depend  upon  the  legality 


*  Directly  the  reverse  of  the  doctrine  he  constantly 
maintained  in  the  house  of  lords,  and  elsewhere,  upon  the 
decision  of  the  Middlesex  election.  He  invariably  asserted, 
that  the  decision  must  be  legal  because  the  court  was  com- 
petent ;  and  never  could  be  prevailed  on  to  enter  farther 
into  the  question. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  55 

m  the  decision.  In  the  first  instance,  you  deny  the 
power  absolutely :  in  the  second,  you  admit  the  power, 
provided  it  be  legally  exercised.  Now,  my  lord, 
without  pretendiug  to  reconcile  the  distinctions  of 
Westminster-hall  with  the  simple  information  of  com- 
mon sense,  or  the  integrity  of  fair  argument,  I  shall 
be  understood  by  your  lordship,  when  I  assert,  that, 
if  a  jury,  or  any  other  court  of  judicature,  (for  jurors 
are  judges)  have  no  right  to  enter  into  a  cause  or 
question  of  law,  it  signifies  nothing  whether  their 
decisions  be  or  be  not  according  to  law.  Their  de- 
cision is,  in  itself,  a  mere  nullity ;  the  parties  are  not 
bound  to  submit  to  it;  and,  if  the  jury  run  any  risk 
of  punishment,  it  is  not  for  pronouncing  a  corrupt  or 
illegal  verdict,  but  for  the  illegality  of  meddling  with 
a  point  on  which  they  have  no  legal  authority  to 
decide.* 

I  caunot  quit  this  subject  without  reminding  your 
lordship  of  the  name  of  Mr.  Benson.  Without  offer- 
ing any  legal  objection,  you  ordered  a  special  jury- 
man to  be  set  aside,  in  a  cause  where  the  king  was 
prosecutor.  The  novelty  of  the  fact  required  expla- 
nation. Will  you,  condescend  to  tell  the  world  by 
■what  law  or  custom  you  were  authorised  to  make  a 


*  These  iniquitous  prosecutions  cost  the  best  of  princes 
mx  thousand  pounds,  and  ended  in  the  total  defeat  and 
disgrace"  of  the  prosecutors.  In  the  course  of  one  of  them, 
judge  Aston  had  the  unparalleled  impudence  to  tell  Mr. 
Nil uris,  a  gentleman  of  unquestionable  honour  and  integri- 
ty, and  who  was  then  giving  his  evidence  on  oath,  that  he 
thould  pay  very  little  regard  to  any  affidavit  he  should 
make. 


56  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

peremptory  challenge  of  a  juryman  ?  The  parties, 
indeed,  have  this  power  ;  and,  perhaps,  your  lord- 
ship, having  accustomed  yourself  to  unite  the  charac- 
ters of  judge  and  party,  may  claim  it  in  virtue  of  the 
new  capacity  you  have  assumed,  and  profit  by  your 
own  wrong.  The  time  within  which  you  might  have 
been  punished  for  this  daring  attempt  to  pack  a  jury, 
is,  I  fear,  elapsed;  but  no  length  of  time  shall  erase 
the  record  of  it. 

The  mischiefs  you  have  done  this  country  are  not 
confined  to  your  interpretation  of  the  laws.  You  are 
a  minister,  my  lord  ;  and,  as  such,  have  long  been 
consulted.  Let  us  candidly  examine  what  use  you 
have  made  of  your  ministerial  influence.  I  will  not 
descend  to  little  matters,  but  come  at  once  to  those 
important  points  on  which  your  resolution  was  waited 
for,  on  which  the  expectation  of  your  opinion  kept 
a  great  part  of  the  nation  in  suspense.  A  constitu- 
tional question  arises  upon  a  declaration  of  the  law 
of  parliament,  by  which  the  freedom  of  election,  and 
the  birthright  of  the  subject,  were  supposed  to  have 
been  invaded.  The  king's  servants  are  accused  of 
violating  the  constitution.  The  nation  is  in  a  fer- 
ment. The  ablest  men  of  all  parties  engage  in  the 
question,  and  exert  their  utmost  abilities  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  it.  What  part  has  the  honest  lord  Mans- 
field acted  ?  As  an  eminent  judge  of  the  law,  his 
opinion  would  have  been  respected.  As  a  peer,  he 
had  a  right  to  demand  an  audience  of  his  sovereign, 
and  inform  him,  that  his  ministers  were  pursuing  un- 
constitutional measures.  Upon  other  occasions,  my 
lord,  you  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  your  way  into 
the  closet.     The  pretended  neutrality  of  belonging 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  51 

to  no  party  will  not  save  your  reputation.  In  a  ques- 
tion merely  political,  an  honest  man  may  stand 
neuter.  But  the  laws  and  constitution  are  the  gene- 
ral property  of  the  subject :  not  to  defend,  is  to  re- 
linquish :  and  who  is  there  so  senseless  as  to  renounce 
bis  share  in  a  common  benefit,  unless  he  hopes  to 
profit  by  a  new  division  of  the  spoil  ?  As  a  lord  of 
parliament,  you  were  repeatedly  called  upon  to  con- 
demn or  defend  the  new  law  declared  by  the  hoUse  of 
commons.  You  affected  to  have  scruples,  and  every 
expedient  was  attempted  to  remove  them.  The  ques- 
tion was  proposed  and  urged  to  you  in  a  thousand 
different  shapes.  Your  prudence  still  supplied  you 
with  evasion ;  your  resolution  was  invincible.  For 
my  own  part,  I  am  not  anxious  to  penetrate  this 
solemn  secret.  I  care  not  to  whose  wisdom  it  is  en- 
trusted, nor  how  soon  you  carry  it  with  you  to  the 
grave.*  You  have  betrayed  your  opinion  by  the 
very  care  you  have  taken  to  conceal  it.  It  is  not 
from  lord  Mansfield  that  we  expect  any  reserve  in 
declaring  his  real  sentiments  in  favour  of  government, 
or  in  opposition  to  the  people  ;  nor  is  it  difficult  to 
account  for  the  motions  of  a  timid,  dishonest  heart, 
which  neither  has  virtue  enough  to  acknowledge 
truth,  or  courage  to  contradict  it.  Yet  you  continue 
to  support  an  administration  which  you  know  is  Uni- 
versally odious,  and  which,  on  some  occasions,  you 
yourself  speak  of  with  contempt.     You  would  fain 


*  He  said,  in  the  house  of  lords,  that  he  believed  he 

should  carry  his  opinion  with  him  to  the  grave.     It  was 

afterwards  reported,  that  he  had  entrusted  it  in  special  con 

adence  to  the  ingenuous  duke  of  Cumberland. 

C  2 


58  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

be  thought  to  take  no  share  in  government,  while,  in 
reality,  you  are  the  main  spring  of  the  machine. 
Here,  too,  we  trace  the  little,  prudential  policy  of  a 
Scotchman.  Instead  of  acting  that  open,  generous 
part  which  becomes  your  rank  and  station,  you  mean- 
ly sculk  into  the  closet,  and  give  your  sovereign  such 
advice  as  you  have  not  spirit  to  avow  or  defend. 
You  secretly  engross  the  power,  while  you  decline 
the  title  of  a  minister ;  and  though  you  dare  not  be 
chancellor,  you  know  how  to  secure  the  emoluments 
of  the  office.  Are  the  seals  to  be  for  ever  in  commis- 
sion, that  you  may  enjoy  five  thousand  pounds  a 
year .?  I  beg  pardon,  my  lord  ;  your  fears  have  in- 
terposed at  last,  and  forced  you  to  resign.  The 
odium  of  continuing  speaker  of  the  house  of  lords, 
upon  such  terms,  was  too  formidable  to  be  resisted. 
What  a  multitude  of  bad  passion?  are  forced  to  sub- 
mit to  a  constitutional  infirmity  !  But  though  you 
have  relinquished  the  salary,  you  still  assume  the 
rights  of  a  minister.  Your  conduct,  it  seems,  must 
be  defended  in  parliament.  For  what  other  purpose 
is  your  wretched  friend,  that  miserable  serjeant,  posted 
to  the  house  of  commons  ?  Is  it  in  the  abilities  of  a 
Mr.  Leigh  to  defend  the  great  lord  Mansfield  ?  Or  is 
he  only  the  punch  of  the  puppet-show,  to  speak  as  he  is 
prompted  by  the  chief  juggler  behind  the  curtain  ?* 
In  public  affairs,  my  lord,  cunning,  let  it  be  ever  so 
well  wrought,  will  not  conduct  a  man  honourably 
through  life.     Like  bad  money,  it  may  be  current  for 

*  This  paragraph  gagged  poor  Leigh.  I  am  really  con- 
cerned for  the  man,  and  wish  it  were  possible  to  open  his 
mouth.     He  is  a  very  pretty  orator. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  59 

&  time,  but  it  will  soon  be  cried  down.  Jt  cannot 
consist  with  a  liberal  spirit,  though  it  be  sometimes 
united  with  extraordinary  qualifications.  When  I 
acknowledge  your  abilities,  you  may  believe  I  am 
sincere.  I  feel  for  human  nature,  when  I  see  a  man, 
so  gifted  as  you  are,  descend  to  such  vile  practices. 
Yet  do  not  suffer  your  vanity  to  console  you  too  soon. 
Believe  me,  my  good  lord,  you  are  not  admired  in 
the  same  degree  in  which  you  are  detested.  It  is 
only  the  partiality  of  your  friends  that  balances  the 
defects  of  your  heart  with  the  superiority  of  your  un- 
derstanding. No  learned  man,  even  among  your 
own  tribe,  thinks  you  qualified  to  preside  in  a  court 
of  common  law  :  yet  it  is  confessed,  that,  under  Jus- 
tinian, you  might  have  made  an  incomparable  prater. 
It  is  remarkable  enough,  but  I  hope  not  ominous,  that 
the  laws  you  understand  best,  and  the  judges  you  affect 
to  admire  most,  flourished  in  the  decline  of  a  great 
empire,  and  are  supposed  to  have  contributed  to  its  faYi. 
Here,  my  lord,  it  may  be  proper  for  us  to  pause 
together.  It  is  not  for  my  own  sake  that  I  wish  you 
to  consider  the  delicacy  of  yoitr  situation.  Beware 
how  you  indulge  the  first  emotions  of  yonr  resent- 
ment. This  paper  is  delivered  to  the  world,  and  can- 
not be  recalled.  The  prosecution  of  an  innocent  print- 
er cannot  alter  facts,  nor  refute  arguments.  Do  not 
furnish  me  with  farther  materials  against  yourself. 
An  honest  man,  like  the  true  religion,  appeals  to  the 
understanding,  or  modestly  confides  in  the  internal 
evidence  of  his  conscience.  The  impostor  employs 
force  instead  of  argument,  imposes  silence  where  he 
cannot  convince,  and  propagates  his  character  by  the 
sword.  JUNIUS. 


60  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 


XLII. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  January  30,  1771. 

If  we  recollect  in  what  manner  the  king's  friends 
have  been  constantly  employed,  we  shall  have  no  rea- 
son  to  be  surprised  at  any  condition  of  disgrace  to 
which  the  once  respected  name  of  Englishmen  may 
be  degraded.  His  majesty  has  no  cares,  but  such  as 
concern  the  laws  and  constitution  of  this  country. 
In  his  royal  breast  there  is  no  room  left  for  resent- 
ment, no  place  for  hostile  sentiments  against  the 
natural  enemies  of  his  crown.  The  system  of  govern- 
ment is  uniform  :  violence  and  oppression  at  home 
can  only  be  supported  by  treachery  and  submission 
abroad.  When  the  civil  rights  of  the  people  are 
daringly  invaded  on  one  side,  what  have  we  to  ex- 
pect, but  that  their  political  rights  should  be  deserted 
and  betrayed,  in  the  same  proportion,  on  the  other  i 
The  plan  of  domestic  policy  which  has  been  invaria- 
bly pursued  from  the  moment  of  his  present  majesty's 
accession,  engrosses  all  the  attention  of  his  servants. 
They  know  that  the  security  of  their  places  depends 
upon  their  maintaining,  at  any  hazard,  the  secret  sys- 
tem of  the  closet.  A  foreign  war  might  embarrass, 
an  unfavourable  event  might  ruin,  the  minister,  and 
defeat  the  deep-laid  scheme  of  policy  to  which  he  and 
his  associates  owe  their  employments.  Rather  than 
suffer  the  execution  of  that  scheme  to  be  delayed  of 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  6£ 

interrupted,  the  king  has  been  advised  to  make  a* 
public  surrender,  a  solemn  sacrifice,  in  the  face  of  all 
Europe,  not  only  of  the  interests  of  his  subjects,  but 
of  his  own  personal  reputation,  and  of  the  dignity  of 
that  crown  which  his  predecessors  have  worn  with 
honour.  These  are  strong  terms,  sir,  but  they  are 
supported  by  fact  and  argument. 

The  king  of  Great  Britain  has  been  for  some  years 
id  possession  of  an  island,  to  which,  as  the  ministry 
themselves  have  repeatedly  asserted,  the  Spaniard* 
had  no  claim  of  right.  The  importance  of  the  place 
is  not  in  question  :  if  it  were,  a  better  judgment  might 
be  formed  of  it,  from  the  opinion  of  lord  Anson  aud 
lord  Egmont,  and  from  the  anxiety  of  the  Spaniards, 
than  from  any  fallacious  insinuations  thrown  out  by 
men,  whose  interest  it  is  to  undervalue  that  property 
which  they  are  determined  to  relinquish.  The  pre- 
tensions of  Spain  were  a  subject  of  negotiation  be- 
tween the  two  courts.  They  had  been  discussed,  but 
not  admitted.  The  king  of  Spain,  in  these  circum- 
stances, bids  adieu  to  amicable  negotiation,  and  ap- 
peals directly  to  the  sword.  The  expedition  against 
Port  Egmont  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  sudden, 
ill-concerted  enterprise  :  it  seems  to  have  been  conr 
ducted  not  only  with  the  usual  military  precautions, 
but  in  all  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  war.  A  frigate 
was  first  employed,  to  examine  the  strength  of  the 
place.  A  message  was  then  sent,  demanding  imme- 
diate possession,  in  the  Catholic  king's  name,  and 
ordering  our  people  to  depart.  At  last,  a  military 
force  appears,  and  compels  the  garrison  to  surrender. 
A  formal  capitulation  ensues  ;  and  his  majesty's  ship, 
which  might  at  least  have  been   permitted  to  bring 


62  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

home  his  troops  immediately,  is  detained  in  port 
twenty  days,  and  her  rudder  forcibly  taken  away. 
This  train  of  facts  carries  no  appearance  of  the  rash- 
ness or  violence  of  a  Spanish  governor  :  on  the  con- 
trary, the  whole  plan  seems  to  have  been  formed  and 
executed,  in  consequence  of  deliberate  orders,  and  a 
regular  instruction,  from  the  Spanish  court.  Mr. 
Buccarelli  is  not  a  pirate,  nor  has  he  been  treated  as 
such  by  those  who  emplo}red  him.  I  feel  for  the 
honour  of  a  gentleman,  when  I  affirm,  that  our  king 
owes  him  a  signal  reparation.  Where  will  the  hu- 
miliation of  this  country  end  f  A  king  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, not  contented  with  placing  himself  upon  a  level 
with  a  Spanish  governor,  descends  so  low  as  to  do  a 
notorious  injustice  to  that  governor.  As  a  salvo  for 
his  own  reputation,  he  has  been  advised  to  traduce  the 
character  of  a  brave  officer,  and  to  treat  him  as  a 
common  robber,  when  he  knew,  with  certainty,  that 
Mr.  Buccarelli  had  acted  in  obedience  to  his  orders, 
and  had  done  no  more  than  his  dut}\  Thus  it  hap- 
pens, in  private  life,  with  a  man  who  has  no  spirit 
nor  sense  of  honour.  One  of  his  equals  orders  a  ser- 
vant to  strike  him :  instead  of  returning  the  blow  to 
the  master,  his  courage  is  contented  with  throwing  aft 
aspersion,  equally  false  and  public,  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  the  servant. 

This  short  recapitulation  was  necessary  to  intro- 
duce the  consideration  of  his  majesty's  speech  of  the 
13th  of  November,  1770,  and  the  subsequent  measures 
of  government.  The  excessive  caution  with  which 
the  speech  was  drawn  up,  had  impressed  upon  me  an 
early  conviction,  that  no  serious  resentment  was 
thought  of,  and  that  the  conclusion  of  the  business. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  63 

whenever  it  happened,  must,  in  some  degree^  be  dis- 
honourable to  England.  There  appears,  through 
the  whole  speech,  a  guard  and  reserve  in  the  choice 
of  expression,  which  shows  how  careful  the  ministry 
were  not  to  embarrass  their  future  projects  by  any 
firm  or  spirited  declaration  from  the  throne.  When 
all  hopes  of  peace  are  lost,  his  majesty  tells  his  par- 
liament, that  he  is  preparing,  not  for  barbarous  war. 
but  (with  all  his  mother's  softness)  for  a  different  situ- 
ation. An  open  hostility,  authorised  by  the  Catholic 
king,  is  called  an  act  of  a  governor.  This  act,  to 
avoid  the  mention  of  a  regular  siege  and  surrender, 
passes  under  the  piratical  description  of  seizing  by 
force  ;  and  the  thing  taken  is  described,  not  as  a  part 
of  the  king's  territory ,x  or  proper  dominion,  but  mere- 
ly as  a  possession  ;  a  word  expressly  chosen  in  con- 
tradistinction to,  and  exclusion  of,  the  ideas  of  right, 
and  to  prepare  us  for  a  future  surrender  both  of  the 
right  and  of  the  possession.  Yet  this  speech,  sir, 
cautious  and  equivocal  as  it  is,  cannot,  by  any 
sophistry,  be  accommodated  to  the  measures  which 
have  since  been  adopted.  It  seemed  to  promise,  that, 
whatever  might  be  given  up  by  secret  stipulation, 
some  care  would  be  taken  to  save  appearances  to  the 
public.  The  event  shows  us,  that  to  depart,  in  the 
minutest  article,  from  the  nicety  and  strictness  of 
punctilio,  is  as  dangerous  to  national  honour  as  to 
female  virtue.  The  woman  who  admits  of  one  fami- 
liarity seldom  knows  where  to  stop,  or  what  to  refuse } 
and,  when  the  counsels  of  a  great  country  give  way 
in  a  single  instance,  when  they  once  are  inclined  to 
submission,  every  step  accelerates  the  rapidity  of  the 
descent.     The  ministry  themselves,  when  they  framed 


64  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

the  speech,  did  not  foresee  that  they  should  ever  ac- 
cede to  such  an  accommodation  as  they  have  since 
advised  their  master  to  accept  of. 

The  king  says,  "  The  honour  of  my  crown,  and 
the  rights  of  my  people,  are  deeply  affected."  The 
Spaniard,  in  his  reply,  says,  "  I  will  give  you  back 
possession,  but  I  adhere  to  my  claim  of  prior  right, 
reserving  the  assertion  of  it  for  a  more  favourable 
opportunity." 

The  speech  says,  "  I  made  an  immediate  demand 
of  satisfaction ;  and,  if  that  fails,  I  am  prepared  to  do 
myself  justice."  This  immediate  demand  must  have 
been  sent  to  Madrid  on  the  12th  of  September,  or  in 
a  few  days  after.  It  was  certainly  refused,  or  evaded, 
and  the  king  has  not  done  himself  justice.  When  the 
first  magistrate  speaks  to  the  nation,  some  care  should 
be  taken  of  his  apparent  veracity. 

The  speech  proceeds  to  say,  "  I  shall  not  discon- 
tinue my  preparations  until  I  have  received  proper 
reparation  for  the  injury."  If  this  assurance  may  be 
relied  on,  what  an  enormous  expense  is  entailed  sine 
die  upon  this  unhappy  country !  Restitution  of  a 
possession,  and  reparation  of  an  injury,  are  as  diffe- 
rent in  substance  as  they  are  in  language.  The  very 
act  of  restitution  may  contain,  as  in  this  instance  it 
palpably  doe6,  a  shameful  aggravation  of  the  injury. 
A.  man  of  spirit  does  not  measure  the  degree  of  an 
injury  by  the  mere  positive  damage  he  has  sustained; 
he  considers  the  principle  on  which  it  is  fonnded  ;  he 
resents  the  superiority  asserted  over  him  j  and  re- 
jects, with  indignation,  the  claim  of  right  which  his 
adversary  endeavours  to  establish,  and  would  force 
him  to  acknowledge. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  65 

The  motives  on  which  the  Catholic  king  makes 
restitution,  are,  if  possible,  more  insolent  and  dis- 
graceful to  our  sovereign,  than  even  the  declaratory 
condition  annexed  to  it.  After  taking  four  months 
to  consider  whether  the  expedition  was  undertaken  by 
his  own  orders  or  not,  he  condescends  to  disavow  the 
enterprise,  and  to  restore  the  island ;  not  from  any 
regard  to  justice,  not  from  any  regard  he  bears  to  his 
Britannic  majesty,  but  merely  "  from  the  persuasion 
in  which  he  is  of  the  pacific  sentiments  of  the  king  of 
Great  Britain." 

At  this  rate,  if  our  king  had  discovered  the  spirit  of 
a  man ;  if  he  had  made  a  peremptory  demand  of  satis- 
faction, the  king  of  Spain  would  have  given  him  a 
peremptory  refusal.  But  why  this  unseasonable,  this 
ridiculous  mention  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain's  pa- 
cific intentions  ?  Have  they  ever  been  in  question  ? 
Was  he  the  aggressor?  Does  he  attack  foreign 
powers  without  provocation  ?  Does  lie  even  resist, 
when  he  is  insulted  ?  No,  sir  :  if  any  ideas  of  strife 
or  hostility  have  entered  his  royal  mind,  they  have  a 
very  different  direction.  The  enemies  of  England 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  them. 

After  all,  sir,  to  what  kind  of  disavowal  has  the 
king  of  Spain  at  last  consented  ?  Supposing  it  made 
in  proper  time,  it  should  have  been  accompanied  with 
instant  restitution;  and  if  Mr.  Buccarelli  acted  with- 
out orders,  he  deserved  death.  Now,  sir,  instead  of 
immediate  restitution,  we  have  a  four  months'  nego- 
tiation ;  and  the  officer,  whose  act  is  disavowed,  re- 
turns to  court,  and  is  loaded  with  honours. 

If  the  actual  situation  of  Europe  be  considered,  the 
treachery  of  the  king's  servants,  particularly  of  lord 


66  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

North,  who  takes  the  whole  upon  himself,  will  appeal' 
in  the  strongest  colours  of  aggravation.  Our  allies 
were  masters  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  king  of 
France's  present  aversion  from  war,  and  the  distrac- 
tion of  his  affairs,  are  notorious.  He  is  now  in  a 
state  of  war  with  his  people.  In  vain  did  the  Catho- 
lic king  solicit  him  to  take  part  in  the  qtiarrel  against 
us.  His  finances  were  in  the  last  disorder ;  and  it 
was  probable  that  his  troops  might  find  sufficient 
employment  at  home.  In  these  circumstances,  we 
might  have  dictated  the  law  to  Spain.  There  are  110 
terms  to  which  she  might  not  have  been  compelled  to 
submit.  At  the  worst,  a  war  with  Spain  alone  car- 
ries the  fairest  promise  of  advantage.  One  good 
effect,  at  least,  would  have  been  immediately  produ- 
ced by  it.  The  desertion  of  France  would  have  irri- 
tated her  ally,  and,  in  all  probability,  have  dissolved 
the  family  compact.  The  scene  is  now  fatally  changed. 
The  advantage  is  thrown  away.  The  most  favoura- 
ble opportunity  is  lost.  Hereafter  we  shall  know  the 
value  of  it.  When  the  French  king  is  reconciled  to 
his  subjects — when  Spain  has  completed  her  prepa- 
rations— when  the  collected  strength  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon  attacks  us  at  once,  the  king  himself  will  be 
able  to  determine  upon  the  wisdom  or  impudence  of 
his  present  conduct.  As  far  as  the  probability  ot 
argument  extends,  we  may  safely  pronounce,  that  a 
conjuncture,  which  threatens  the  very  being  of  this 
country,  has  been  wilfully  prepared  and  forwarded  by 
our  own  ministry.  How  far  the  people  may  be  ani- 
mated to  resistance,  under  the  present  administration, 
I  know  not ;  but  this  I  know,  with  certainty,  that, 
under  the  present  administration,  or  if  any  thing  like 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  67 

it  should  continue,  it  is  of  very  little  moment  whether 
we  are  a  conquered  nation  or  not.* 

Having  travelled  thus  far  in  the  high  road  of  mat- 
ter of  fact,  I  may  now  be  permitted  to  wander  a  little 
into  the  field  of  imagination.  Let  us  banish  from  our 
minds  the  persuasion  that  these  events  have  really 
happened  in  the  reign  of  the  best  of  princes ;  let  us 
consider  them  as  nothing  more  than  the  materials  of 
a  fable,  in  which  we  may  conceive  the  sovereign  of 
some  other  country  to  be  concerned.  I  mean  to  vio- 
late all  the  laws  of  probability,  when  I  suppose  that 
this  imaginary  king,  after  having  voluntarily  dis- 
graced himself  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects,  might  re- 
turn to  a  sense  of  his  dishonour ;  that  he  might  per- 
ceive the  snare  laid  for  him  by  his  ministers,  and  feel 


*  The  king's  acceptance  of  the  Spanish  ambassador's  de- 
claration is  drawn  up  in  barbarous  French,  and  signed  by 
the  earl  of  Rochford.     This  diplomatic  lord  has  spent  his 
life  in  the  study  and  practice  of  etiquettes,  and  is  supposed 
to  be  a  profound  master  of  die  ceremonies.     I  will  not  in- 
sult him  by  any  reference  to  grammar  or  common  sense  :  if 
he  were  even  acquainted  with  the  common  forms  of  his  of- 
fice, I  should  think  him  as  well  qualified  for  it  as  any  man 
in  his  majesty's  service.     The  reader  is  requested  to  observe 
lord  Rochford's  method  of  authenticating  a  public  instru- 
ment.— «  En  foi  de  quoi,  moi  soussignc",  un  des  principal \ 
secretaires  d'etat  S.  INI.  B.  ai  signe  la  presente  de  ma  signa- 
ture ordinaire,  ct  icelle  fait  apposer  le  cachet  de  nos  armes." 
In  three  lines  there  are  no  less  than  seven  false  concords. 
But  the  man  does  not  even  know  the  style  of  his  office.     If 
he  had  known  it,  he  would  have  said,  "  Nous,  soussignt 
secretaire  d'etat  de  S.  M.  B.  avons  signe-,"  &c. 


68  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

a  spark  of  shame  kindling  in  his  breast.  The  part 
he  must  then  be  obliged  to  act  would  overwhelm  him 
with  confusion.  To  his  parliament  he  must  say,  "  1 
called  you  together  to  receive  your  advice,  and  have 
never  asked  your  opinion." — To  the  merchant,  "  J 
have  distressed  your  commerce;  I  have  dragged 
your  seamen  out  of  your  ships ;  I  have  loaded  you 
with  a  grievous  weight  of  insurances." — To  the  land- 
holder, "  I  told  you  war  was  too  probable,  when  I  was 
determined  to  submit  to  any  terms  of  accommodation : 
I  extorted  new  taxes  from  you  before  it  was  possible 
they  could  be  wanted,  and  am  now  unable  to  account 
for  the  application  of  them." — To  the  public  creditor, 
"  I  have  delivered  up  your  fortune  a  prey  to  foreign- 
ers, and  to  the  vilest  of  your  fellow  subjects."  Per- 
haps, this  repenting  prince  might  conclude  with  one 
general  acknowledgment  to  them  all :  "  I  have  in 
volved  every  rank  of  my  subjects  in  anxiety  and  dis- 
tress ;  and  have  nothing  to  offer  you,  in  return,  but 
the  certainty  of  national  dishonour,  an  armed  truce, 
and  peace  without  security." 

If  these  accounts  were  settled,  there  would  still 
remain  an  apology  to  be  made  to  his  navy  and  to  his 
army.  To  the  first  he  would  say,  "  You  were  onCe 
the  terror  of  the  world.  But  go  back  to  your  har- 
bours. A  man,  dishonoured  as  I  am,  has  no  use  for 
your  service."  It  is  not  probable  that  he  would  ap- 
pear again  before  his  soldiers,  even  in  the  pacific 
ceremony  of  a  review.*  But,  wherever  he  appeared, 
the  humiliating  confession  would  be  extorted  from 

*  A  mistake :  he  appears  before  them  every  day5  with  a 
marly  of  a  blow  upon  his  face.    Proh  jaudor  ! 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  69 

him, — "  I  have  received  a  blow,  and  had  not  spirit 
to  resent  it.  I  demanded  satisfaction,  and  have  ac- 
cepted a  declaration,  in  which  the  right  to  strike  me 
again  is  asserted  and  confirmed."  His  countenance, 
at  least,  would  speak  this  language,  and  even  his 
guards  would  blush  for  him. 

But  to  return  to  our  argument.  The  ministry,  it 
seems,  are  labouring  to  draw  a  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween the  honour  of  the  crown  and  the  rights  of  the 
people.  This  new  idea  has  yet  only  been  started  in 
discourse ;  for,  in  effect,  both  objects  have  been  equally 
sacrificed.  I  neither  understand  the  distinction,  nor 
what  use  the  ministry  propose  to  make  of  it.  The 
king's  honour  is  that  of  his  people.  Their  real  hon- 
our and  real  interest  are  the  same.  I  am  not  con- 
tending for  a  vain  punctilio.  A  clear,  unblemished 
character  comprehends  not  only  the  integrity  that 
will  not  offer,  but  the  spirit  that  will  not  submit  to  an 
injury;  and,  whether  it  belongs  to  an  individual  or 
to  a  community,  it  is  the  foundation  of  peace,  of  in- 
dependence, and  of  safety.  Private  credit  is  wealth  ; 
public  honour  is  security.  The  feather  that  adorns 
the  royal  bird  supports  his  flight.  Strip  him  of  his 
plumage,  and  you  fix  him  to  the  earth. 

JUNIUS. 


70  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


XLIII. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser, 

SIR,  February  6,  1771. 

I  hope  your  correspondent,  Junius,  is  better  em- 
ployed than  in  answering  or  reading  the  criticisms  of 
a  newspaper.  This  is  a  task,  from  which,  if  he  were 
inclined  to  submit  to  it,  his  friends  ought  to  relieve 
him.  Upon  this  principle,  I  shall  undertake  to  an- 
swer Anti-Junius,  more,  I  believe,  to  his  conviction, 
than  to  his  satisfaction".  Not  daring  to  attack  the 
main  body  of  Junius's  last  letter,  be  triumphs  in  hav- 
ing, as  he  thinks,  surprised  an  out-post,  and  cut  off  a 
detached  argument,  a  mere  straggling  proposition. 
But  even  in  this  petty  warfare  he  shall  find  himself 
defeated. 

Junius  does  not  speak  of  the  Spanish  nation  as  the 
natural  enemies  of  England  ;  he  applies  that  descrip- 
tion, with  the  strides}  truth  and  justice,  to  the  Span- 
ish court.  From  the  moment  when  a  prince  of  the 
house  of  Bourbon  ascended  that  throne,  their  whole 
system  of  government  was  inverted,  and  became  hos- 
tile to  this  country.  Unity  of  possession  introduced 
«a  unity  of  politics ;  and  Louis  the  Fourteenth  had 
reason,  when  he  said  to  his  grandson,  "  The  Pyrenees 
are  removed."  The  history  of  the  present  century 
is  one  continued  confirmation  of  the  prophecy. 

The  assertion,  "  That  violence  and  oppression  at 
home  can  only  be  supported  by  treachery  and  sub- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  71 

mission  abroad,"  is  applied  to  a  free  people,  whose 
rights  are  invaded,  not  to  the  government  of  a  coun- 
try, where  despotic  or  absolute  power  is  confessedly 
vested  in  the  prince ;  and,  with  this  application,  the 
assertion  is  true.  An  absolute  monarch,  having  no 
points  to  carry  at  home,  will  naturally  maintain  the 
honour  of  his  crown  in  all  his  transactions  with 
foreign  powers.  But,  if  we  could  suppose  the  sove- 
reign of  a  free  nation  possessed  with  a  design  to  make 
himself  absolute,  he  would  be  inconsistent  with  him- 
.self,  if  he  suffered  his  projects  to  be  interrupted  or 
embarrassed  by  a  foreign  war,  unless  that  war  tended, 
as  in  some  cases  it  might,  to  promote  his  principal 
design.  Of  the  three  exceptions  to  this  general  rule 
of  conduct,  (quoted  by  Anti-Junius,)  that  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  is  the  only  one  in  point.  Harry  the  Eighth, 
by  the  submission  of  his  parliament,  was  as  absolute 
a  prince  as  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  Queen  Elizabeth's 
government  was  not  oppressive  to  the  people,  and  as 
to  her  foreign  wars,  it  ought  to  be  considered,  that 
they  were  unavoidable.  The  national  honour  was 
not  in  question  :  she  was  compelled  to  fight  in  defence 
of  her  own  person,  and  of  her  title  to  the  crown.  In 
the  common  cause  of  selfish  policy,  Oliver  Cromwell 
should  have  cultivated  the  friendship  of  foreign  pow- 
ers, or,  at  least,  have  avoided  disputes  with  them,  the 
better  to  establish  his  tyranny  at  home.  Had  he 
been  only  a  bad  man,  he  would  have  sacrificed  the 
honour  of  the  nation  to  the  success  of  his  domestic 
policy.  But,  with  all  his  crimes,  he  had  the  spirit  of 
an  Englishman.  The  conduct  of  such  a  man  must 
always  be  an  exception  to  vulgar  rules.  He  had 
abilities  sufficient  to  reconcile  contradictions,  and  to 


72  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

make  a  great  nation,  at  the  same  moment,  unhappy 
and  formidable.  If  it  were  not  for  the  respect  I  bear 
the  minister,  I  could  name  a  man,  who,  without  one 
grain  of  understanding,  can  do  half  as  much  as 
Oliver  Cromwell. 

Whether  or  no  there  be  a  secret  system  in  the 
closet,  and  what  may  be  the  object  of  it,  are  questions 
which  can  only  be  determined  by  appearances,  and 
on  which  every  man  must  decide  for  himself. 

The  whole  plan  of  Junius's  letter  proves,  that  he 
himself  makes  no  distinction  between  the  real  honour 
of  the  crown  and  the  real  interest  of  the  people.  In 
the  climax  to  which  your  correspondent  objects,  Ju- 
nius adopts  the  language  of  the  court,  and,  by  that 
conformity,  gives  strength  to  his  argument.  He  says 
that  "  the  king  has  not  only  sacrificed  the  interest 
of  his  people,  but  (what  was  likely  to  touch  him  more 
nearly)  his  personal  reputation,  and  the  dignity  of  his 
crown." 

The  queries  put  by  Anti-Junius  can  only  be  an- 
swered by  the  ministry.  Abandoned  as  they  are,  I 
fancy  they  will  not  confess,  that  they  have,  for  so 
many  years,  maintained  possession  of  another  man's 
property.  After  admitting  the  assertion  of  the  minis- 
try, viz.  "  That  the  Spaniards  had  no  rightful 
claim,"  and  after  justifying  them  for  saying  so,  it  is 
his  business,  not  mine,  to  give  us  some  good  reason 
for  their  "  suffering  the  pretensions  of  Spain  to  be  a 
subject  of  negotiation."  He  admits  the  facts  ;  let 
him  reconcile  them  if  he  can. 

The  last  paragraph  brings  us  back  to  the  original 
question,  Whether  the  Spanish  declaration  contains 
such  a  satisfaction  as  the  king  of  Great  Britain  ought 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  73 

to  have  accepted  ?  This  was  the  field  upon  which  he 
ought  to  have  encountered  Junius  openly  and  fairly. 
But  here  he  leaves  the  argument,  as  no  longer  de- 
fensible. I  shall,  therefore,  conclude  with  one  gen- 
eral admonition  to  my  fellow  subjects ;  that,  when 
they  hear  these  matters  debated,  they  should  not  suf- 
fer themselves  to  be  misled  by  general  declamations 
upon  the  conveniences  of  peace,  or  the  miseries  of 
war.  Between  peace  and  war  abstracted!}',  there  is 
not,  there  cannot,  be  a  question,  in  the  mind  of  a 
rational  being.  The  real  questions  are,  "  Have  we 
any  security  that  the  peace  we  have  so  dearly  pur- 
chased will  last  a  twelvemonth  ?"  and  if  not,  "  Have 
we,  or  have  we  not,  sacrificed  the  fairest  opportunity 
of  making  war  with  advantage  ?" 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XLIV. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  April  22,  1771. 

To  write  for  profit,  without  taxing  the  press  ;  to 
write  for  fame,  and  to  be  unknown  ;  to  support  the 
intrigues  of  faction,  and  to  be  disowned  as  a  danger- 
ous auxiliary  by  every  party  in  the  kingdom,  are 
contradictions  which  the  minister  must  reconcile  be- 
fore I  forfeit  my  credit  with  the  public.  I  may  quit 
tie  service,  but  it  would  be  absurd  to  suspect  me  of 
desertion.  The  reputation  of  these  papers  is  an  hon- 
ourable pledge  for  my  attachment  to  the  people.    To 

VOL.  II.  D 


74  JTOIUS'S    LETTERS. 

sacrifice  a  respected  character,  ard  to  renounce  the 
esteem  of  society,  requires  more  than  Mr.  Wedder- 
burne's  resolution  ;  and  though  in  him  it  was  rather 
a  profession  than  a  desertion  of  his  principles,  (1 
speak  tenderly  of  this  gentleman  ;  for,  when  treache- 
ry is  in  question,  I  think  we  should  make  allowances 
for  a  Scotchman)  yet  we  have  seen  him  in  the  house 
of  commons  overwhelmed  with  confusion,  and  almost 
bereft  of  his  faculties.  But,  in  truth,  sir,  I  have  left 
no  room  for  an  accommodation  with  the  piety  of  St. 
James's.  My  offences  are  not  to  be  redeemed  by  re- 
cantation or  repentance.  On  one  side,  our  warmest 
patriots  would  disclaim  me  as  a  burthen  to  their  hon- 
est ambition.  On  the  other,  the  vilest  prostitution, 
if  Junius  could  descend  to  it,  would  lose  its  natural 
merit  and  influence  in  the  cabinet,  and  treachery  be 
no  longer  a  recommendation  to  the  royal  favour. 

The  persons,  who,  till  within  these  few  years,  have 
been  most  distinguished  by  their  zeal  for  high-church 
and  prerogative,  are  now,  it  seems,  the  great  asser- 
tors  of  the  privileges  of  the  house  of  commons.  This 
sudden  alteration  of  their  sentiments  or  language, 
carries  with  it  a  suspicious  appearance.  When  I 
hear  the  undefined  privileges  of  the  popular  branch 
of  the  legislature  exalted  by  tories  and  Jacobites,  at 
the  expense  of  those  strict  rights  which  are  known  to 
the  subject  and  limited  by  the  laws,  I  cannot  but  sus- 
pect that  some  mischievous  scheme  is  in  agitation,  to 
destroy  both  law  and  privilege,  by  opposing  them  to 
each  other.  They  who  have  uniformly  denied  the 
power  of  the  whole  legislature  to  alter  the  descent  of 
the  crown,  and  whose  ancestors,  in  rebellion  against 
his  majesty's  family,  have  defended  that  doctrine  at 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  75 

the  hazard  of  their  lives,  now  tell  us,  that  privilege 
of  parliament  is  the  only  rule  of  right,  and  the  chief 
security   of  the    puhlic    freedom.     I    fear,  sir,  that, 
while  forms   remain,  there  has  been  some  material 
change  in  the   substance  of  our  constitution.     The 
opinions  of  these  men  were  too  absurd  to  be  so  easi- 
ly renounced.     Liberal  minds  are   open  to  convic- 
tion ;  liberal  doctrines  are  capable  of  improvement. 
There  are  proselytes  from  atheism,  but  none  from 
superstition.    If  their  present  professions  were  sincere, 
I  think  they  could  not  but  be  highly  offended  at  see- 
ing a  question  concerning   parliamentaiy  privilege 
unnecessarily  started  at  a  season  so  unfavourable  to 
the  house  of  commons,  and  by  so  very  mean  and  in- 
significant a   person   as   the  minor  Onslow.     They 
knew  that   the   present  house  of   commons,  having 
commenced  hostilities  with  the  people,  and  degraded 
the  authority  of  the  laws  by  their  own  example,  were 
likely  enough  to  be  resisted  per  fas  et  nefas.    If  they 
were   really   friends   to   privilege,  they    would   have 
thought   the  question  of  right  too  dangerous  to  be 
hazarded  at  this   season,  and,  without  the  formality 
of  a  convention,  would  have  left  it  undecided. 

I  have  been  silent  hitherto,  though  not  from  that 
shameful  indifference  about  the  interests  of  society, 
which  too  many  of  us  possess,  and  call  moderation. 
I  confess,  sir,  that  I  felt  the  prejudices  of  my  educa- 
tion in  favour  of  a  house  of  commons  still  hanging 
about  me.  I  thought  that  a  question  between  law 
and  privilege  could  never  be  brought  to  a  formal  de- 
cision without  inconvenience  to  the  public  service,  or 
a  manifest  diminution  of  legal  liberty;  that  it  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  carefully  avoided  :  and  when  I  saw 


76  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

that  the  violence  of  the  house  of  commons  had  car- 
ried them  too  far  to  retreat,  I  determined  not  to  de- 
liver a  hasty  opinion  upon  a  matter  of  so  much 
delicacy  and  importance. 

The  state  of  things  is  much  altered  in  this  country 
since  it  was  necessary  to  protect  our  representatives 
against  the  direct  power  of  the  crown.     We  have 
nothing  to   apprehend  from  prerogative,  but  every 
thing  from  undue  influence.     Formerly,  it  was  the 
interest  of  the  people  that  the  privileges  of  parliament 
should  be  left  unlimited  and  undefined.    At  present,  it 
is  not  only  their  interest,  but  I  hold  it  to  be  essential 
ly  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  constitution, 
that  the   privileges  of  parliament  should  be  strictly 
ascertained,  and  confined  within  the  narrowest  bounds 
the  nature  of  the  institution  will  admit  of.     Upon  the 
same  principle  on  which  I  would  have  resisted  pre- 
rogative in  the  last  century,  I  now  resist  privilege.   It 
is  indifferent  to  me,  whether  the  crown,  by  its  own 
immediate  act,  imposes  new,  and  dispenses  with  old 
laws,  or  whether  the  same  arbitrary  power  produce* 
the  same  effects  through  the  medium  of  the  house  of 
commons.    We  trusted  our  representatives  with  privi- 
leges for  their  own  defence  and  ours.     We  cannot 
hinder  their  desertion,  but  we  can  prevent  their  car- 
rying over  their  arms  to  the  service  of  the  enemy. 
It  will  be  said,  that  I  begin  with  endeavouring  to  re- 
duce the  argument  concerning  privilege  to  a  mere 
question  of  convenience  ;  that,  I  deny,  at  one  mo- 
ment, what  I  would  allow  at  another  ;  and  that,  to 
resist  the  power  of  a  prostituted  house  of  commons, 
may  establish  a  precedent  injurious  to  all  future  par- 
liaments.    To  this  I  answer,  generally,  that  human 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  77 

^dairs  are  in  no  instance  governed  b}r  strict  positive 
right.     If  change  of  circumstances  were  to  have  no 
weight  in  directing  our  conduct  and   opinions,   the 
mutual   intercourse  of  mankind   would    be   nothing 
more  than  a  contention  between  positive  and  equita- 
ble right.     Society  would  be  a  state  of  war,  and  law 
itself  would  be  injustice.     On  this  general  ground,  it 
is  highly  reasonable,  that  the  degree  of  our  submis- 
sion to  privileges  which  never  have  been  defined  by 
any  positive  law,  should  be  considered  as  a  question 
of  convenience,  and  proportioned  to  the  confidence 
we  repose  in  the  integrity  of  our  representatives.     As 
to  the  injury  we  may  do  to  any  future  and  more  re- 
spectable house  of  commons,  I  own  I  am  not  now 
sanguine  enough  to  expect  a  more  plentiful  harvest 
of  parliamentary  virtue  in  one  year  than  in  another. 
Our  political  climate  is  severely  altered  ;  and,  with- 
out dwelling  upon  the  depravity  of  modern  times,  I 
think  no  reasonable  man  will  expect  that,  as  human 
nature  is  constituted,  the  enormous  influence  of  the 
crown  should  cease  to  prevail  over  the  virtue  of  indi- 
viduals.    The  mischief  lies  too  deep  to  be  cured  by 
any  remedy  less  than  some  great  convulsion,  which 
may  either  carry  back  the  constitution  to  its  original 
principles,  or  utterly  destroy  it.    I  do  not  doubt  that, 
in  the  first  session  after  the  next  election,  some  popti 
lar  measures  may  be  adopted.     The  present  house  of 
commons  have  injured  themselves  by  a  too  early  and 
public  profession  of  their  principles  ;  and  if  a  strain 
of  prostitution,  which  had  no  example,  were  within 
the  reach  of   emulation,  it   might  be  imprudent  to 
hazard  the  experiment  too  soon.     But,  after,  all,  sir, 
h   i-i  very   immaterial  whether  a  house  of  commons 


78  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

shall  preserve  their  virtue  for  a  week,  a  month,  or  a 
year.  The  influence  which  makes  a  septennial  par- 
liament dependent  on  the"  pleasure  of  the  crown,  has 
a  permanent  operation,  and  cannot  fail  of  success. 
My  premises,  I  know,  will  be  denied  in  argument ; 
but  every  man's  conscience  tells  him  they  are  true. 
It  remains,  then,  to  be  considered,  whether  it  be  for 
the  interest  of  the  people,  that  privilege  of  parlia- 
ment* (which  in  respect  to  the  purposes  for  which  it 
has  hitherto  been  acquiesced  under,  is  merely  nomi- 
nal) should  be  contracted  within  some  certain  limits  j 
or,  whether  the  subject  shall  be  left  at  the  mercy  of  a 
power,  arbitrary  upon  the  face  of  it,  and  notoriously 
under  the  direction  of  the  crown. 

I  do  not  mean  to  decline  the  question  of  right ;  on 
the  contrary,  sir,  I  join  issue  with  the  advocates  for 
privilege,  and  affirm,  that,  "  excepting  the  cases 
wherein  the  house  of  commons  are  a  court  of  judica- 
ture (to  which,  from  the  nature  of  their  office,  a  co- 
ercive power  must  belong)  and  excepting  such  con- 
tempts as  immediately  interrupt  their  proceedings, 
they  have  no  legal  authority  to  imprison  any  man  for 


*  The  necessity  of  securing  the  house  of  commons  against 
the  king's  power,  so  that  no  interruption  might  be  given 
either  to  the  attendance  of  the  members  in  parliament,  or  to 
vhe  freedom  of  debate,  was  the  foundation  of  parliamentary 
privilege  ;  and  we  may  observe,  in  all  the  addresses  of  new 
appointed  speakers  to  the  sovereign,  the  utmost  privilege 
they  demand,  is  liberty  of  speech,  and  freedom  from  arrests. 
The  very  word  privilege  means  no  more  than  immunity,  or 
a  safeguard  to  the  party  who  possesses  it,  and  can  never  be 
construed  into  an  active  power  of  invading  the  rights  of  others., 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  79 

any  supposed  violation  of  privilege  whatsoever."  It 
is  not  pretended  that  privilege,  as  now  claimed,  has 
ever  been  defined  or  confirmed  by  statute ;  neither 
can  it  be  said,  with  any  colour  of  truth,  to  be  a  part 
of  the  common  law  of  England,  which  had  grown 
into  prescription  long  before  we  knew  any  thing  of 
the  existence  of  a  house  of  commons.  As  for  the 
law  of  parliament,  it  is  only  another  name  for  the 
privilege  in  question  ;  and  since  the  power  of  cre- 
ating new  privileges  has  been  formally  renounced  by 
both  houses,  since  there  is  no  code  in  which  we  can 
study  the  law  of  parliament,  we  have  but  one  way 
left  to  make  ourselves  acquainted  with  it ;  that  is,  to 
compare  the  nature  of  the  institution  of  a  house  of 
commons  with  the  facts  upon  record.  To  establish  a 
claim  of  privilege  in  either  house,  and  to  distinguish 
original  right  from  usurpation,  it  must  appear,  that 
it  is  indispensably  necessary  for  the  performance  of 
the  duty  they  are  employed  in,  and  also  that  it  has 
been  uniformly  allowed.  From  the  first  part  of  this 
description,  it  follows,  clearly,  that,  whatever  privi- 
lege does  of  right  belong  to  the  present  house  of  com- 
mons, did  equally  belong  to  the  first  assembly  of  their 
predecessors,  was  so  completely  vested  in  them,  and 
might  have  been  exercised  in  the  same  extent.  Frour 
the  second  we  must  infer,  that  privileges,  which  for 
several  centuries  were  not  only  never  allowed,  but 
never  even  claimed  by  the  house  of  commons,  must 
be  founded  upon  usurpation.  The  constitutional  du- 
ties of  a  house  of  commons  are  not  very  complicated 
nor  mysterious.  They  are  to  propose  or  assent  to 
wholesome  laws,  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation.  They 
are  to  grant  the  necessary  aids  to  the  king  ;  petition 


80  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

for  the  redress  of  grievances ;  and  prosecute  treason 
or  high  crimes  against  the  state.  If  unlimited  privi- 
lege be  necessary  to  the  performance  of  these  duties, 
we  have  reason  to  conclude,  that,  for  many  centuries 
after  the  institution  of  the  house  of  commons,  they 
were  never  performed.  I  am  not  boitnd  to  prove  a 
negative  ;  but  I  appeal  to  the  English  history,  when  1 
affirm,  that,  with  the  exceptions  already  stated,  which 
yet  I  might  safely  relinquish,  there  is  no  precedent, 
from  the  }'ear  1265,  to  the  death  of  queen  Elizabeth, 
of  the  house  of  commons  having  imprisoned  any 
man  (not  a  member  of  their  house)  for  contempt  or 
breach  of  privilege.  In  the  most  flagrant  cases,  and 
when  their  acknowledged  privileges  were  most  gross- 
ly violated,  the  poor  commmis,  as  they  then  styled 
themselves,  never  took  the  power  of  punishment  into 
their  own  hands.  They  either  sought  redress,  by 
petition  to  the  king,  or,  what  is  more  remarkable, 
applied  for  justice  to  the  house  of  lords  ;  and,  when 
satisfaction  was  denied  them  or  delayed,  their  only 
remedy  was  to  refuse  proceeding  upon  the  king's  busi- 
ness. So  little  conception  had  our  ancestors  of  the 
monstrous  doctrines  now  maintained  concerning  privi- 
lege, that,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  even  liberty  of 
speech,  the  vital  principle  of  a  deliberative  assembly, 
was  restrained  by  the  queen's  authority  to  a  simple 
ay  or  no  ;  and  this  restriction,  though  imposed  upon 
three  successive  parliaments,*  was  never  once  disputed 
by  the  house  of  commons. 

I  know  there  are  many  precedents  of  arbitrary 
commitments  for  contempt ;  but,  besides  that  they  are 

*  In  the  years  1593,  1597,  and  1 601. 


OUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  81 

of  too  modern  a  date  to  warrant  a  presumption  that 
such  a  power  was  originally  vested  in  the  house  of 
commons,  fact  alone  does  not  constitute  right.     If  it 
does,  general  warrants  were  lawful.     An  ordinance 
of  the  two  houses  has  a  force  equal  to  law :  and  the 
criminal  jurisdiction  assumed  by   the  commons  in 
1421,  in  the  case  of  Edward  Lloyd,  is  a  good  pre- 
cedent to  warrant  the  like  proceedings  against  any 
man  who  shall  unadvisedly  mention  the  folly  of  a 
king,  or  the  ambition  of  a  princess.     The  truth  is, 
sir,  that  the  greatest  and  most  exceptionable  part  of 
the  privileges  now  contended  for,  were  introduced  and 
asserted  by  a  house  of  commons,  which  abolished  both 
monarchy  and  peerage,  and  whose  proceedings,  al- 
though they  ended  in  one  glorious  act  of  substantial 
justice,  could   no  way  be  reconciled  to  the  forms  of 
the  constitution.     Their  successors  profited  by  their 
example,  and  confirmed  their  power  by  a  moderate 
or  popular  use  of  it.    Thus  it  grew,  by  degrees,  from 
a  notorious  innovation  at  one  period,  to  be  tacitly 
admitted  as  the  privilege  of  parliament  at  another. 

If,  however,  it  could  be  proved,  from  considera- 
tions of  necessity  or  convenience,  that  an  unlimited 
power  of  commitment  ought  to  be  entrusted  to  the 
nouse  of  commons,  and  that,  in  fact,  they  have  ex- 
ercised it  without  opposition,  still,  in  contemplation 
of  law,  the  presumption  is  strongly  against  them.  It 
is  a  leading  maxim  of  the  laws  of  England  (and 
without  it  all  laws  are  nugatory)  that  there  is  no  right 
without  a  remedy,  nor  any  legal  power  without  a 
legal  course  to  carry  it  into  effect.  Let  the  power, 
now  in  question,  be  tried  by  this  rule.     The  speaker 

issues    his   warrant   of  attachment.     The   party   at- 

D  _>  6  ' 


82  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

tached  either  resists  force  with  force,  or  appeals  to  a 
magistrate,  who  declares  the  warrant  illegal,  and  dis- 
charges the  prisoner.  Does  the  law  provide  no  legal 
means  for  enforcing  a  legal  warrant?  Is  there  no  re- 
gular proceeding  pointed  out  in  our  law  books,  to 
assert  and  vindicate  the  authority  of  so  high  a  court  as 
the  house  of  commons  ?  The  question  is  answered 
directly  by  the  fact ;  their  unlawful  commands  are 
resisted,  and  they  have  no  remedy.  The  imprison- 
ment of  their  own  members  is  revenge  indeed ;  but  it 
is  no  assertion  of  the  privilege  they  contend  for.* 
Their  whole  proceeding  stops ;  and  there  they  stand, 
ashamed  to  retreat,  and  unable  to  advance.  Sir, 
these  ignorant  men  should  be  informed,  that  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws  of  England  is  not  left  in  this  un- 
certain, defenceless  condition.  If  the  process  of  the 
courts  of  Westminster-hall  be  resisted,  they  have  a 
direct  course  to  enforce  submission.  The  court  ot 
king's  bench  commands  the  sheriff  to  raise  the  posse 
comitatus  ;  the  courts  of  chancery  and  exchequer  is- 
sue a  writ  of  rebellion  ;  which  must  also  be  support- 
ed, if  necessary,  by  the  power  of  the  country.  To 
whom  will  our  honest  representatives  direct  their  writ 
of  rebellion  ?  The  guards,  I  doubt  not,  are  willing 
enough  to  be  employed  ;  but  they  know  nothing  of 


*  Upoa  their  own  principles,  they  should  have  commit- 
ted Mr.  Wilkes,  who  had  been  guilty  of  a  greater  offence 
than  even  the  lord  mayor  or  alderman  Oliver.  But,  after 
repeatedly  ordering  him  to  attend,  they  at  last  adjourned 
beyond  the  day  appointed  for  his  attendance,  and,  by  this 
mean,  pitiful  evasion,  gave  up  the  point. 


JUNIUS'S    LETTERS.  83 

the  doctrine  of  writs,  and  may  think  it  necessary  to 
wait  for  a  letter  from  lord  Barrington. 

It  may  now  be  objected  to  me,  that  my  arguments 
prove  too  much  :  for  that  certainly  there  may  be  in- 
stances of  contempt  and  insult  to  the  house  of  com- 
mons, which  do  not  fall  within  my  own  exceptions, 
yet,  in  regard  to  the  dignity  of  the  house,  ought  not 
to  pass  unpunished.  Be  it  so.  The  courts  of  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction  are  open  to  prosecutions,  which  the 
attorney-general  may  commence  by  information  or 
indictment.  A  libel  tending  to  asperse  or  vilify  the 
house  of  commons,  or  any  of  their  members,  may 
be  as  severely  punished  in  the  court  of  king's  bench, 
as  a  libel  upon  the  king.  M.  de  Grey  thought  so,, 
when  he  drew  up  the  information  of  my  letter  to  his 
majesty,  or. he  had  no  meaning  in  charging  it  to  be 
a  scandalous  libel  upon  the  house  of  commons.  In 
my  opinion,  they  would  consult  their  real  dignity 
much  better,  by  appealing  to  the  laws,  when  they  are 
offended,  than  by  violating  the  first  principle  of  natu- 
ral justice,  which  forbids  us  to  be  judges,  when  we 
ape  parties  to  the  cause.* 


*  "  If  it  be  demanded,  in  case  a  subject  should  be  com- 
mitted by  either  house  for  a  matter  manifestly  out  of  their 
jurisdiction,  What  remedy  can  he  have  ?  I  answer,  that  it 
cannot  well  be  imagined  that  the  law,  which  favours  no- 
thing more  than  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  should  give  us  a 
temcdy  against  commitments  by  the  king  himself,  appearing 
to  be  illegal,  and  yet  give  us  no  manner  of  redress  against 
a  commitment  by  our  fellow  subjects,  equally  appearing  to 
be  unwarranted.     But,  as  this  is  a  case  which  I  am  persuad- 


34  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

I  do  not  mean  to  pursue  them  through  the  remain- 
der of  their  proceedings.  In  their  first  resolutions, 
it  is  possible  they  might  have  been  deceived  by  ill- 
considered  precedents.  For  the  rest,  there  is  no  co- 
lour of  palliation  or  excuse.  They  have  advised  the 
king  to  resume  a  power  of  dispensing  with  the  laws 
by  royal  proclamation  ;*  and  kings,  we  see,  are  ready 
enough  to  follow  such  advice.  By  mere  violence, 
and  without  the  shadow  of  right,  they  have  expunged 
the  record  of  a  judicial  proceeding.'^  Nothing  re- 
mained but  to  attribute  to  their  own  vote  a  power  of 
stopping  the  whole  distribution  of  criminal  and  civil 
justice. 

•  The  public  virtues  of  the  chief  magistrate  have 
long  since  ceased  to  be  in  question.  But,  it  is  said, 
that  he  has  private  good  qualities ;  and  I  myself  have 
been  ready  to  acknowledge  them.     They  are  now 

ed,  will  never  happen,  it  seems  needless  over-nicely  to  ex- 
amine it."'     Hawkins,  ii.  110. 

N.  B.     He  was  a  good  lawyer,  but  no  prophet. 

*  That  their  practice  might  be  every  way  conformable  to 
their  principles,  the  house  proceeded  to  advise  the  crown  to 
publish  a  proclamation,  universally  acknowledged  to  be  il- 
legal. Mr.  Moreton  publicly  protested  against  it  before  it 
was  issued ;  and  lord  Mansfield,  though  not  scrupulous  to 
an  extreme,  speaks  of  it  with  horror.  It  is  remarkable 
enough,  that  the  very  men  who  advised  the  proclamation, 
and  who  hear  it  arraigned  every  day,  both  within  doors  and 
without,  are  not  daring  enough  to  utter  one  word  in  its  de- 
fence ;  nor  have  they  ventured  to  take  the  least  notice  of  Mr. 
Wilkes,  for  the  discharging  the  persons  apprehended  under  it. 

r  Lord  Chatham  very  properly  called  this  the  act  of  a. 
mob,  not  of  a  senate. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  So 

brought  to  the  test.  If  he  loves  his  people,  he  will 
dissolve  the  parliament,  which  they  can  never  confide 
in  or  respect.  If  he  has  any  regard  for  his  own  hon- 
our, he  will  disdain  to  be  any  longer  connected  with 
such  abandoned  prostitution.  But,  if  it  were  con- 
ceivable, that  a  king  of  this  country  had  lost  all  sense 
of  personal  honour,  and  all  concern  for  the  welfare 
of  his  subjects,  I  confess,  sir,  I  should  be  contented 
to  renonnce  the  forms  of  the  constitution  once  more, 
if  there  were  no  other  way  to  obtain  substantial  jus- 
tice for  the  people.t 

JUNIUS. 


f  When  Mr.  Wilkes  was  to  be  punished,  they  made  no 
scruple  about  the  privileges  of  parliament ;  and  although  it  . 
was  as  well  known  as  any  matter  of  public  record  and  un- 
interrupted custom  could  be,  "  That  the  members  of  either 
house  are  privileged,  except  in  case  of  treason,  felony,  ov 
breach  of  peace,"  they  declared,  without  hesitation,  "  That 
privilege  of  parliament  did  not  extend  to  the  case  of  a  sedi- 
tious libel :"  and  undoubtedly  they  would  have  done  the 
same  if  Mr.  Wilkes  had  been  prosecuted  for  any  other  mis- 
demeanor whatsoever.  The  ministry,  are,  of  a  sudden, 
grown  wonderfully  careful  of  privileges,  which  their  prede*- 
n-ssors  were  as  ready  to  invade.  The  kno\«n  laws  of  the 
land,  the  rights  of  the  subject,  the  sanctity  of  charters,  and 
the  reverence  due  to  our  magistrates,  must  all  give  way, 
without  question  or  resistance,  to  a  privilege  of  which  no 
man  knows  either  the  origin  or  the  extent.  The  house  of 
commons  judge  of  their  own  privileges  without  appeal  : 
they  may  take  offence  at  the  most  innocent  action,  and  im- 
prison the  person  who  offends  them  during  their  arbitrary 
will  and  pleasure.  The  party  has-  no  remedy ;  he  cannot 
appeal  from  their  jurisdiction  ;  and  if  he  questions  the  pri- 


86  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


XLV. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  May  1,  1771- 

They  who  object  to  detached  parts  of  Junius's  last 
letter,  either  do  not  mean  him  fairly,  or  have  not  con- 
sidered the  general  scope  and  course  of  his  argument. 
There  are  degrees  in  all  the  private  v4ces  ;  why  not 
in  public  prostitution  ?  The  influence  of  the  crown 
naturally  makes  a  septennial  parliament  dependent. 
Daes  it  follow,  that  every  house  of  commons  will 
plunge  at  once  into  the  lowest  depths  of  prostitution  ? 
Junius  supposes,  that  the  present  house  of  commons, 
in  going  such  enormous  lengths,  have  been  impru- 
dent to  themselves,  as  well  as  wicked  to  the  public  ; 
vhat  their  example  is  not  within  the  reach  of  emula- 
tion ;  and  that,  in  the  first  session  after  the  next  elec- 
tion, some  popular  measures  may  probably  be  adopt- 
ed. He  does  not  expect  that  a  dissolution  of  parlia- 
ment will  destroy  corruption,  but  that,  at  least,  it 
will  be  a  check  and  terror  to  their  successors,  who 


vilege  which  he  is  stipposed  to  have  violated,  it  becomes  an 
aggravation  of  his  offence.  Surely  this  doctrine  is  not  to  be 
found  in  Magna  Charta.  If  it  be  admitted  without  limita- 
tion, I  affirm,  that  there  is  neither  law  nor  liberty  in  this 
kingdom.  We  are  the  slaves  of  the  house  of  commons  j 
and,  through  them,  we  are  the  slaves  of  the  king  and  his 
umusteu.    Anonymous, 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  87 

will  have  seen,  that,  in  flagrant  cases,  their  constitu- 
ents can  and  will  interpose  with  effect.  After  all,  sir, 
will  you  not  endeavour  to  remove  or  alleviate  the  most 
dangerous  symptoms,  because  you  cannot  eradicate 
the  disease  ?  Will  you  not  punish  treason  or  parri- 
cide, because  the  sight  of  a  gibbet  does  not  prevent 
high-way  robberies  ?  When  the  main  argument  of 
Junius  is  admitted  to  be  unanswerable,  I  think  it 
would  become  the  minor  critic,  who  hunts  for  blem- 
ishes, to  be  little  more  distrustful  of  his  own  sagacity. 
The  other  objection  is  hardly  worth  an  answer. 
When  Junius  observes,,  that  kings  are  ready  enough 
to  follow  such  advice,  he  does  not  mean  to  insinuate, 
that,  if  the  advice  of  parliament  were  good,  the 
king  would  be  so  ready  to  follow  it. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XLVI. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  May  25,  1771. 

I  confess  my  partiality  to  Junius,  and  feel  a  con- 
siderable pleasure  in  being  able  to  communicate  any 
thing  to  the  public  in  support  of  his  opinions.  The 
doctrine  laid  down  in  his  last  letter,  concerning  the 
power  of  the  house  of  commons  to  commit  for  con- 
tempt, is  not  so  new  as  it  appeared  to  many  people  % 
who  dazzled  with  the  name  of  privilege,  had  never 
suffered  themselves  to  examine  the  question  fairly. 
In  the  course  of  ray  reading  this  morning,  I  met  with 


S8  JUNIUSS   LETTERS. 

the  following  passage  in  the  journals  of  the  house  of 
commons,  (Vol.  i.  p.  603.)  Upon  occasion  of  a  ju- 
risdiction unlawfully  assumed  by  the  house  in  the  year 
1621,  Mr.  attorney-general  Noye  gave  his  opinion 
as  follows  :  "  No  doubt  but  in  some  cases,  this  house 
may  give  judgment,  in  matters  of  returns,  and  con- 
cerning members  of  our  house,  or  falling  out  in  our 
view  in  parliament ;  but,  for  foreign  matters,  know- 
eth  not  how  we  can  judge  it ;  knoweth  not  that  we 
have  been  used  to  give  judgment  in  any  case,  but 
those  before  mentioned." 

Sir  Edward  Coke,  upon  the  same  subject,  says, 
(page  604,)  "  No  question  but  this  is  a  house  of  re- 
cord, and  that  it  hath  power  of  judicature  in  some 
cases  ;  have  power  to  judge  of  returns  and  members 
of  our  house.  One,  no  member,  offending  out  of 
the  parliament,  when  he  came  hither,  and  justified  ity 
was  censured  for  it." 

Now,  sir,  if  you  will  compare  the  opinion  of  those 
great  sages  of  the  law  with  Junius's  doctrine,  you 
will  find  they  tally  exactly.  He  allows  the  power  of 
the  house  to  commit  their  own  members,  which,  how- 
ever, they  may  grossly  abuse  ;  he  allows  their  power 
in  cases  where  they  are  acting  as  a  court  of  judica- 
ture, viz.  elections,  returns,  &ic.  and  he  allows  it  in 
such  contempts  as  immediately  interrupt  their  pro- 
ceedings ;  or,  as  Mr.  Noye  expresses  it,  falling  out 
in  their  view  in  parliament. 

They  who  would  carry  the  privileges  of  parlia- 
ment farther  than  Junius,  either  do  not  mean  well  to 
the  public,  or  know  not  what  they  are  doing.  The 
government  of  England  is  a  government  of  law. 
We  betray  ourselves,  we  contradict  the  spirit  of  our 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  89 

laws,  and  we  shake  the  whole  system  of  English  ju- 
risprudence, whenever  we  entrust  a  discretionary 
power  over  the  life,  liberty,  or  fortune  of  the  subject, 
to  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  whatsoever,  upon  a  pre- 
sumption that  it  will  not  be  abused. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XLVI1. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  May  28,  177 1. 

Any  man  who  takes  the  trouble  of  perusing  the 
journals  of  the  house  of  commons,  will  soon  be  con- 
vinced, that  very  little,  if  any  regard  at  all,  ought  to 
be  paid  to  the  resolutions  of  one  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature, declaratory  of  the  law  of  the  land,  or  even  ol 
what  they  call  the  law  of  parliament.  It  will  appear 
that  these  resolutions  have  no  one  of  the  properties  by 
which,  in  this  country  particularly,  law  is  distinguish- 
ed from  mere  will  and  pleasure;  but  that,  on  the 
contrary,  they  bear  every  mark  of  a  power  arbitrarily 
assumed  and  capriciously  applied  :  that  they  are 
usually  made  in  times  of  contest,  and  to  serve  some 
unworthy  purpose  of  passion  or  party;  that  the  law 
is  seldom  declared  until  after  the  fact  by  which  it  is 
supposed  to  be  violated ;  that  legislation  and  juris- 
diction are  united  in  the  same  persons,  and  exercised 
at  the  same  moment;  and  that  a  court  from  which 
there  is  no  appeal,  assumes  an  original  jurisdiction 
in  a  criminal  case.     In  short,  sir,  to  collect  a  thousand 


90  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

absurdities  into  one  mass,  "  we  have  a  law  whicft 
eannet  be  known,   because  it  is  ex  post  facto :  the 
party    is   both  legislator   and  judge,    and  the  juris 
diction  is  without  appeal."     Well  might  the  judges 
say,  "  The  law  of  parliament  is  above  us." 

You  will  not  wonder,  sir,  that  with  these  qualifi- 
cations, the  declaratory  resolutions  of  the  house  oi 
commons  should  appear  to  be  in  perpetual  contra- 
diction, not  only  to  common  sense,  and  to  the  laws 
we  are  acquainted  with,  (and  which  alone  we  can 
obey,)  but  even  to  one  another.  I  was  led  to  trouble 
you  with  these  observations  by  a  passage,  which,  to 
speak  in  lutestring,  J  met  with  this  morning  in  the 
course  of  my  reading,  and  upon  which  I  mean  to  put 
a  question  to  the  advocates  for  privilege.  On  the 
8th  of  March,  1704,  (Fide  Journals,  Vol.  xiv.  p.  568,) 
the  house  thought  proper  to  come  to  the  following 
resolutions  :  1.  "  That  no  commoner  of  England; 
committed  by  the  house  of  commons  for  breach  of 
privilege  or  contempt  of  that  house,  ought  to  be,  by 
any  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  made  to  appear  in  any 
other  place,  or  before  any  other  judicature,  during 
that  session  of  parliament  wherein  such  person  was  so 
committed." 

2.  "  That  the  serjeant  at  arms,  attending  this 
house,  do  make  no  return  of,  or  yield  any  obedience 
to,  the  said  writs  of  Habeas  Corpus  ;  and  for  such 
his  refusal,  that  he  have  the  protection  of  the  house  of 
commons."* 

*  If  there  be,  in  reality,  any  such  law  in  England  as  the 
law  of  parliament,  which  (under  the  exception  stated  in 
my  letter  on  privilege)  I  confess,  after  long  deliberation,  I 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  Of 

Welbore  Ellis,  what  say  you  ?     Is  this  the  law  df 
parliament,  or  is  it  not  ?     I  am  a  plain  man,  sir,  and 
cannot  follow  you  through  the  phlegmatic  forms  of. 
an  oration.     Speak  out,  Gildrig,  say  yes  or  no.     If 
you  say  yes,  I  shall    then  inquire  by  what  authority 
Mr.   de   Grey,   the  honest   lord   Mansfield,  and  the 
barons  of  the  exchequer,  dared  to  grant  a  writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus  for  bringing  the  bodies  of  the  lord 
mayor  and  Mr.   Oliver  before  them  ;  and  why  the 
lieutenant  of  the  Tower  made  any  return  to  a  writ, 
which  the  house  of  commons  had,   in  a   similar  in- 
stance, declared  to  be  unlawful.     If  you  say  no,  take 
care  you  do  not  at  once  give  up  the  cause  in  support 
of  which  you  have   so  long  and  so  laboriously  tor- 
tured your  understanding.     Take  care  you  do  not 
confess  that  there  is  no  test  by  which  we  can  distin- 
guish, no  evidence  by  which  we  can  determine,  what 
is,   and  what  is  not,   the   law   of  parliament.     The 
resolutions  I  have  quoted,  stand  upon  your  journals, 
uncontroverted  and  unrepealed  :  they  contain  a  de- 
claration of  the  law  of  parliament,  by  a  court  com- 
petent to  the  question,   and  whose  decision,  as  you 
and  lord  Mansfield  say,  must  be  law,   because  there 


very  much  doubt,  it  certainly  is  not  constituted  by,  nor  can 
it  be  collected  from,  the  resolutions  of  either  house,  whether 
enacting  or  declaratory.  I  desire  the  leader  will  compare 
the  above  resolutions  of  the  year  1704,  with  the  following  ot 
the  3d  of  April,  1628.—"  Resolved, That  the  writs  of  Habeas 
('orjjus  cannot  be  denied,  but  ought  to  be  granted  to  every 
man  that  is  committed  or  detained  in  prison,  or  otherwise 
restrained  by  the  command  of  the  king,  the  privy  council, 
«r  any  other,  lie  praying  the  same." 


$Z  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

i<s  no  appeal  from  it :  and  they  were  made  not  hasti- 
ly, but  after  long  deliberation  upon  a  constitutional 
question.  What  farther  sanction  or  solemnity  will 
you  annex  to  any  resolution  of  the  present  house  of 
commons,  beyond  what  appears  upon  the  face  of  those 
two  resolutions,  the  legality  of  which  you  now  deny  ? 
If  you  say  that  parliaments  are  not  infallible,  and 
that  queen  Anne,  in  consequence  of  the  violent  pro- 
ceedings of  that  house  of  commons,  was  obliged  to 
prorogue  and  dissolve  them,  I  shall  agree  with  you 
very  heartily,  and  think  that  the  precedent  ought  to 
be  followed  immediately.  But  you,  Mr.  Ellis,  who 
hold  this  language,  are  inconsistent  with  your  own 
principles.  You  have  hitherto  maintained,  that  the 
house  of  commons  are  the  sole  judges  of  their  own 
privileges,  and  that  their  declaration  does  ipso  facto 
constitute  the  law  of  parliament ;  yet  now  you  con- 
fess that  parliaments  are  fallible,  and  that  their  re- 
solutions may  be  illegal ;  consequently  that  their  re- 
solutions do  not  constitute  the  law  of  parliament. 
When  the  king  was  advised  to  dissolve  the  present 
parliament,  you  advised  him  to  tell  his  subjects,  that 
"  he  was  careful  not  to  assume  any  of  those  powers 
which  the  constitution  had  placed  in  other  hands,'* 
Stc.  Yet  queen  Anne,  it  seems,  was  justified  in  ex- 
erting her  prerogative  to  stop  a  house  of  commons, 
whose  proceedings,  compared  with  those  of  the  as- 
sembly of  which  you  are  a  most  worthy  member, 
were  the  perfection  of  justice  and  reason. 

In  what  a  labyrinth  of  nonsense  does  a  man  involve 
himself  who  labours  to  maintain  falsehood  by  argu- 
ment !  How  much  better  would  it  become  the  dig- 
nity of  the  house  of  commons,  to  speak  plainly  to  th$ 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.    N  93 

people,  and  tell  us,  at  once,  "  that  their  will  must  be 
obeyed  ;  not  because  it  is  lawful  and  reasonable,  but 
because  it  is  their  will !"  Their  constituents  would 
have  a  better  opinion  of  their  candour,  and,  I  promise 
you,  not  a  worse  opinion  of  their  integrity. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


XLVIII. 

To  his   Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  June  22,  1771. 

The  profound  respect  I  bear  to  the  gracious  prince 
who  governs  this  country,  with  no  less  honour  to 
himself  than  satisfaction  to  his  subjects,  and  who  re- 
stores you  to  your  rank  under  his  standard,  will  save 
;  on  from  a  multitude  of  reproaches.  The  attention 
I  should  have  paid  to  your  failings,  is  involuntarily 
attracted  to  the  hand  that  rewards  them  j  and  though 
I  am  not  so  partial  to  the  royal  judgment  as  to  affirm, 
that  the  favour  of  a  king  can  remove  mountains  of 
infamy,  it  serves  to  lessen,  at  least,  (for  undoubtedly 
it  divides,)  the  burden.  While  I  remember  how  much 
is  due  to  his  sacred  character,  I  cannot,  with  any  de- 
cent appearance  of  propriety,  call  you  the  meanest 
and  basest  fellow  in  the  kingdom.  I  protest,  my  lord. 
I  *lo  not  think  you  so.  You  will  have  a  dangerous 
rival  in  that  kind  of  fame  to  which  you  have  hitherto 
so  happily  directed  your  ambition,  so  long  as  there  is 
one  man  living  who  thinks  you  worthy  of  his  confi 
dence,  and  fit  to  be  trusted  witb  any  share  in  his 


94  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

government.  I  confess  you  have  great  intrinsic 
merit ;  but  take  care  you  do  not  value  it  too  highly 
Consider  how  much  of  it  would  have  been  lost  to  the 
world,  if  the  king  had  not  graciously  affixed  his  stamp, 
and  given  it  currency  among  his  subjects.  If  it  be 
true  that  a  virtuous  man,  struggling  with  adversity, 
be  a  scene  worthy  of  the  gods,  the  glorious  contention 
between  you  and  the  best  of  princes  deserves  a  circle 
equally  attentive  and  respectable :  I  think  I  already 
see  other  gods  rising  from  the  earth  to  behold  it. 

But  this  language  is  too  mild  for  the  occasion-. 
The  king  is  determined  that  our  abilities  shall  not  be 
lost  to  society.  The  perpetration  and  description  of 
new  crimes  will  find  employment  for  us  both.  My 
lord,  if  the  persons  who  have  been  loudest  in  their 
professions  of  patriotism,  had  done  their  duty  to  the 
public  with  the  same  zeal  and  perseverance  that  I 
did,  I  will  not  assert  that  government  would  have  re- 
covered its  dignity,  but  at  least  our  gracious  sove- 
reign must  have  spared  his  subjects  this  last  insult;* 
which,  if  there  be  any  feeling  left  among  us,  they  will 
resent  more  than  even  the  real  injuries  they  received 
from  every  measure  of  your  grace's  administration. 
In  vain  would  he  have  looked  round  him  for  another 
character  so  consummate  as  yours.  Lord  Mansfield 
shrinks  from  his  principles  :  his  ideas  of  government, 
perhaps,  go  farther  than  your  own ;  but  his  heart 
disgraces  the  theory  of  his  understanding.  Charles 
Fox  is  yet  in  blossom ;  and  as  for  Mr.  Wedderburne, 
there  is  something  about  him  winch  even  treachery 
cannot  trust.     For  the  present,  therefore,  the  best  of 

*  The  duke  was  lately  appointed  lord  privy  seal. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  9<V 

princes  must  have  contented  himself  with  lord  Sand- 
wich. You  would  long  since  have  received  your  final 
dismission  and  reward,  and  I,  my  lord,  who  do  not 
esteem  you  the  more  for  the  high  office  you  posses-, 
would  willingly  have  followed  you  to  your  retirement. 
There  is  surely  something  singularly  benevolent  in 
the  character  of  our  sovereign.  From  the  moment 
he  ascended  the  throne,  there  is  no  crime  of  which 
human  nature  is  capable  (and  I  call  upon  the  record- 
er to  witness  it)  that  has  not  appeared  venial  in  his 
sight.  With  any  other  prince,  the  shameful  desertion 
of  him  in  the  midst  of  that  distress  which  you  alone 
had  created,  in  the  very  crisis  of  danger,  when  lit- 
fancied  he  saw  the  throne  surrounded  by  men  of  vir- 
tue and  abilities,  would  have  outweighed  the  memorv 
of  your  former  services.  But  his  majesty  is  full  of 
justice,  and  understands  the  doctrine  of  compensa- 
tions. He  remembers,  with  gratitude,  how  soon  you 
had  accommodated  your  morals  to  the  necessity  of 
his  service  ;  how  cheerfully  you  had  abandoned  the 
engagements  of  private  friendship,  and  renounced  the 
most  solemn  professions  to  the  public.  The  sacrifice 
of  lord  Chatham  was  not  lost  upon  him.  Even  the 
cowardice  and  perfidy  of  deserting  him  may  have 
done  you  no  disservice  in  his  esteem.  The  instance 
was  painful,  but  the  principle  might  please. 

You  did  not  neglect  the  magistrate  while  you  flat- 
tered the  man.  The  expulsion  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  prede- 
termined in  the  cabinet ;  the  power  of  depriving  the 
subject  of  his  birthright,  attributed  to  a  resolution  of 
one  branch  of  the  legislature;  the  constitution  impu- 
dently invaded  by  the  house  of  commons  ;  the  right 
of  defending  it  treacherously  renounced  by  the  house 


96  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

of  lords ;  these  are  the  strokes,  ray  lord,  which,  in  the 
present  reign,  recommend  to  office  and  constitute  a 
minister.     They  would  have  determined  your  sove- 
reign's judgment,  if  they  had   made  no  impression 
upon  his  heart.     We  need  not  look  for  any  other 
species  of  merit  to  account  for  his  taking  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  recall  you  to  his  councils.     But  you 
have  other  merit  in  abundance.     Mr.  Hine,  the  duke 
of  Portland,  and  Mr.  Yorke  : — Breach  of  trust,  rob- 
bery, and  murder.     You  would  think  it  a  compliment 
to  your  gallantry,  if  I  added  rape  to  the  catalogue ; 
but  the  style  of  your  amours  secures  you  from  resis- 
tance.    I  know  how  well  these  several  charges  have 
been  defended.     In  the  first  instance,  the  breach  ot 
trust  is  supposed  to  have  been  its  own  reward.     Mr. 
Bradshaw  affirms,  upon  his  honour,  (and  so  may  the 
gift  of  smiling  never  depart  from  him  !)   that  you  re- 
served no   part  of  Mr.  Hine's  purchase-money  for 
your  own  use,  but  that  every  shilling  of  it  was  scru- 
pulously paid  to  governor  Burgoyne.     Make  haste, 
my  lord;  another  patent,  applied  in  time,  may  keep 
the  Oaks*  in  the  family.     If  not,  Birnham-Wood,  I 
fear,  must  come  to  the  Macaroni. 

The  duke  of  Portland  was  in  life  your  earliest 
friend.  In  defence  of  his  property,  he  had  nothing 
to  plead  but  equity  against  sir  James  Lowther,  and 
prescription  against  the  crown.  You  felt  for  your 
friend  :  but  the  law  must  take  its  course.  Posterity 
will  scarce  believe  that  lord  Bute's  son-in-law  had 


*  A  superb  villa  of  colonel  Burgoyne,  about  this  time  ad- 
vertised for  sale. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  97 

barely  interest  enough  at  the  treasury  to  get  his  grant 
completed  before  the  general  election.* 

Enough  has  been  said  of  that  detestable  transact 
tion  which  ended  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Yorke  :  I  can- 
not speak  of  it  without  horror  and  compassion.  To 
excuse  yourself,  you  publicly  impeach  your  accom- 
plice ;  and  to  his  mind,  perhaps,  the  accusation  may 
he  flattery.  But  in  murder  you  are  both  principals. 
It  was  once  a  question  of  emulation  ;  and,  if  the 
event  had  not  disappointed  the  immediate  schemes  of 
the  closet,  it  might  still  have  been  a  hopeful  subject 
of  jest  and  merriment  between  you. 

This  letter,  my  lord,  is  only  a  preface  to  my  fu- 
ture correspondence.  The  remainder  of  the  summer 
s.hall  be  dedicated  to  your  amusement.  I  mean  now 
and  then  to  relieve  the  severity  of  your  morning  stu 
dies,  and  to  prepare  you  for  the  business  of  the  day. 
Without  pretending  to  more  than  Mr.  Bradshaw's 
sincerity,  you  may  rely  upon  my  attachment  as  long 
as  you  are  in  office. 

Will  your  grace  forgive  me,  if  I  venture  to  express 
some  anxiety  for  a  man  whom  I  know  you  do  not 
love  ?  My  lord  Weymouth  has  cowardice  to  plead, 
and  a  desertion  of  a  later  date  than  your  own.  You 
know  the  privy-seal  was  intended  for  him  ;  and  it 
you  consider  the  dignity  of  the  post  he  deserted,  you 
will  hardly  think  it  decent  to  quarter  him  on  Mr.  Rig- 

*  It  will  appear,  by  a  subsequent  letter,  that  the  duke's 
precipitation  proved  fatal  to  the  grant.  It  looks  like  the 
hurry  and  confusion  of  a  young  highwayman,  who  takes  a 
few  shillings,  but  leaves  the  purse  and  watch  behind  bin> 
And  yet  the  duke  was  an  old  offender. 

vol.  ii.  E  7 


98  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

by.  Yet  he  must  have  bread,  my  lord  ;  or,  rather,  he 
must  have  wine.  If  you  deny  him  the  cup,  there  wil! 
be  no  keeping  him  within  the  pale  of  the  ministry. 

JUNIUS. 


XLIX. 

To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  July  9,  177*  * 

The  influence  of  your  grace's  fortune  still  seemi- 
to  preside  over  the  treasury.  The  genius  of  Mr. 
Bnadshaw  inspires  Mr.  Robinson.*  How  remarka- 
ble it  is  (and  I  speak  of  it  not  as  a  matter  of  reproach, 
but  as  something  peculiar  to  }*our  character)  that  you 
have  never  yet  formed  a  friendship,  which  has  not 
been  fatal  to  the  object  of  it ;  nor  adopted  a  cause, 
to  which,  one  way  or  other,  you  have  not  done  mis- 
chief! Your  attachment  is  infamy  while  it  lasts; 
and,  which  ever  way  it  turns,  leaves  ruin  and  dis- 
grace behind  it.  The  deluded  girl,  who  yields  to 
such  a  profligate,  even  while  he  is  constant,  forfeits 
her  reputation  as  well  as  her  innocence,  and  finds 
herself  abandoned  at  last  to  misery  and  shame.  Thus 
it  happened  with  the  best  of  princes.  Poor  Dingley, 
too !  I  protest  I  hardly  know  which  of  them  we  ought 

*  By  an  intercepted  letter  from  the  secretary  of  the  trea- 
sury, it  appeared,  that  the  friends  of  government  were  to 
he  very  active  in  supporting  the  ministerial  nomination  of 
sheriffs. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  99 

most  to  lament ;  the  unhappy  man  who  sinks  under  the 
sense  of  his  dishonour,  or  him  who  survives  it.  Char- 
acters so  finished  are  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  pan- 
egyric. Death  has  fixed  his  seal  upon  Dingley ;  and 
you,  my  lord,  have  set  your  mark  upon  the  other. 

The  only  letter  I  ever  addressed  to  the  king  was  so 
unkindly  received,  that  I  believe  I  shall  never  pre- 
sume to  trouble  his  majesty  in  that  way  again.  But 
my  zeal  for  his  service  is  superior  to  neglect ;  and, 
like  Mr.  Wilkes's  patriotism,  thrives  by  persecution. 
Yet  his  majesty  is  much  addicted  to  useful  reading ; 
and,  if  I  am  not  ill  informed,  has  honoured  the  Pub- 
lic Advertiser  with  particular  attention.  I  have  en- 
deavoured, therefore,  and  not  without  success,  (as, 
perhaps,  you  may  remember,)  to  furnish  it  with  such 
interesting  and  edifying  intelligence,  as  probably 
would  not  reach  him  through  any  other  channel. 
The  services  you  have  done  the  nation,  your  integri- 
ty in  office,  and  signal  fidelity  to  your  approved  good 
master,  have  been  faithfully  recorded.  Nor  have  his 
own  virtues  been  entirely  neglected.  These  letters, 
my  lord,  are  read  in  other  countries,  and  in  other 
languages ;  and  I  think  I  may  affirm,  without  vanity, 
that  the  gracious  character  of  the  best  of  princes  is 
by  this  time,  not  only  perfectly  known  to  his  sub- 
jects, but  tolerably  well  understood  by  the  rest  of 
Europe.  In  this  respect  alone  I  have  the  advantage 
of  Mr.  Whitehead.  His  plan,  I  think,  is  too  narrow. 
He  seems  to  manufacture  his  verses  for  the  sole  use 
of  the  hero  who  is  supposed  to  be  the  subject  of  them, 
and,  that  his  meaning  may  not  be  exported  in  foreign 
bottoms,  sets  all  translation  at  defiance. 

Your  grace's  re-appointment  to  a  seat  in  the  cabi- 


100  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

net  was  announced  to  the  public  by  the  ominous  re- 
turn of  lord  Bute  to  this  country.  When  that  nox- 
ious planet  approaches  England,  he  never  fails  to 
bring  plague  and  pestilence  along  with  him.  The 
•king  already  feels  the  malignant  effect  of  your  influ- 
ence over  his  councils.  Your  former  administration 
made  Mr.  Wilkes  an  alderman  of  London  and  repre- 
sentative of  Middlesex.  Your  next  appearance  in 
office  is  marked  with  his  election  to  the  shrievalty. 
In  whatever  measure  you  are  concerned,  you  are  not 
only  disappointed  of  success,  but  always  contrive  to 
make  the  government  of  the  best  of  princes  contempt- 
ible in  his  own  eyes,  and  ridiculous  to  the  whole 
world.  Making  all  due  allowance  for  the  effect  of  the 
minister's  declared  interposition,  Mr.  Robinson's  ac- 
tivity, and  Mr.  Home's  new  zeal  in  support  of  ad- 
ministration, we  still  want  the  genius  of  the  duke  of 
Grafton  to  account  for  committing  the  whole  interest 
of  government  in  the  city  to  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Har- 
ley.  I  will  not  bear  hard  upon  your  faithful  friend 
and  emissary,  Mr.  Touchet ;  for  I  know  the  difficul- 
ties of  his  situation,  and  that  a  few  lottery  tickets  are 
of  use  to  his  economy.  There  is  a  proverb  concern- 
ing persons  in  the  predicament  of  this  gentleman, 
which,  however,  cannot  be  strictly  applied  to  him, 
They  commence  dupes,  and  finish  knaves.  Now,  Mr. 
Touchet's  character  is  uniform.  I  am  convinced  that 
his  sentiments  never  depended  upon  his  circumstan- 
ces ;  and  that,  in  the  most  prosperous  state  of  his 
fortune,  he  was  always  the  very  man  he  is  at  present. 
But  was  there  no  other  person  of  rank  and  conse- 
quence in  the  city,  whom  government  could  confide 
in,  but  a  notorious  Jacobite  ?    Did  you  imagine  that 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  101 

the  whole  body  of  the  dissenters,  that  the  whole  whig 
interest  of  London,  would  attend  at  the  levee,  and 
submit  to  the  directions  of  a  notorious  Jacobite  ; 
Was  there  no  whig  magistrate  in  the  city,  to  whom 
the  servants  of  George  the  Third  could  entrust  the 
management  of  a  business  so  very  interesting  to  their 
master  as  the  election  of  sheriffs  ?  Is  there  no  room 
at  St.  James's  but  for  Scotchmen  and  Jacobites  ? 
My  lord,  I  do  not  mean  to  question  the  sincerity  of 
Mr.  Harley's  attachment  to  his  majesty's  government. 
Since  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign.  I  have 
seen  still  greater  contradictions  reconciled.  The 
principles  of  these  worthy  Jacobites  arc  not  so  ab- 
surd as  they  have  been  represented.  Their  ideas  of 
divine  right  are  not  so  much  annexed  to  the  person 
or  family,  as  to  the  political  character  of  the  sove- 
reign. Had  there  ever  been  an  honest  man  among 
the  Stuarts,  his  majesty's  present  friends  would  have 
been  whigs  upon  principle.  But  the  conversion  of 
the  best  of  princes  has  removed  their  scruples.  They 
have  forgiven  him  the  sins  of  his  Hanoverian  ancestors. 
and  acknowledged  the  hand  of  Providence  in  the  de- 
scent of  the  crown  upon  the  head  of  a  true  Stuart. 
In  you,  my  lord,  they  also  behold,  with  a  kind  of 
predilection  which  borders  upon  loyalty,  the  natural 
representative  of  that  illustrious  family.  The  mode 
of  your  descent  from  Charles  the  Second  is  only  a 
bar  to  your  pretentions  to  the  crown,  and  no  way  in- 
terrupts the  regularity  of  your  succession  to  all  the 
vjrtues  of  the  Stuarts. 

The  unfortunate  success  of  the  reverend  Mr.  Home's 
endeavours  in  support  of  the  ministerial  nomination 


102  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

of  sheriffs,  will,  I  fear,  obstruct  his  preferment. 
Permit  me  to  recommend  him  to  your  grace's  pro- 
tection. You  will  find  him  copiously  gifted  with 
those  qualities  of  the  heart  which  usually  direct  you 
in  the  choice  of  your  friendships.  He  too  was  Mr. 
Wilkes's  friend,  and  as  incapable  as  you  are  of  the 
liberal  resentment  of  a  gentleman.  No,  my  lord  ; 
it  was  the  solitary,  vindictive  malice  of  a  monk, 
brooding  over  the  infirmities  of  his  friend,  until  he 
thought  they  quickened  into  public  life,  and  feasting 
with  a  rancorous  rapture  upon  the  sordid  catalogue 
of  his  distresses.  Now  let  him  go  back  to  his  clois- 
ter. The  church  is  a  proper  retreat  for  him.  In  his 
principles  he  is  already  a  bishop. 

The  mention  of  this  man  has  moved  me  from  my 
natural  moderation.  Let  me  return  to  your  grace. 
You  are  the  pillow  upon  which  I  am  determined  to 
rest  all  my  resentments.  What  idea  can  the  best  of 
sovereigns  form  to  himself  of  his  own  government  ? 
In  what  repute  can  he  conceive  that  he  stands  with 
the  people,  when  he  sees,  beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt,  that,  whatever  be  the  office,  the  suspicion  of 
his  favour  is  fatal  to  the  candidate  ;  and  that,  when 
the  party  he  wishes  well  to  has  the  fairest  prospect  of 
success,  if  his  royal  inclination  should  unfortunately 
be  discovered,  it  drops  like  an  acid,  and  turns  the 
election  ? 

This  event,  among  others,  may,  perhaps,  con- 
tribute to  open  his  majesty's  eyes  to  his  real  honour 
and  interest.  In  spite  of  all  your  grace's  ingenuity, 
he  may,  at  last,  perceive  the  inconvenience  of  se- 
lecting, with  such  a  curious  felicity,  every  villain  in 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  103 

the  nation  to  fill  the  various  departments  of  his  gov- 
ernment. Yet  I  should  be  sorry  to  confine  him  in 
the  choice  either  of  his  footmen  or  his  friends. 

JUNIUS. 


L. 
From  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home  to  Junius. 

SIR,  July  13,  1771- 

Farce,  Comedy,  and  Tragedy. —  Wilkes,  Foote, 
and  Junius — united  at  the  same  time  against  one  poor 
parson,  are  fearful  odds.  The  two  former  are  only 
labouring  in  their  vocation,  and  may  equally  plead, 
in  excuse,  that  their  aim  is  a  livelihood.  I  admit  the 
plea  for  the  second :  his  is  an  honest  calling,  and  my 
clothes  were  lawful  game  ;  but  I  cannot  so  readily 
approve  Mr.  Wilkes,  or  commend  him  for  making 
patriotism  a  trade,  and  a  frudulent  trade.  But  what 
shall  I  say  to  Junius  ?  the  grave,  the  solemn,  the 
didactic !  Ridicule,  indeed,  has  been  ridiculously 
called  the  test  of  truth  :  but  surely,  to  confess  that 
you  lose  your  natural  moderation  when  mention  is 
made  of  the  man,  does  not  promise  much  truth  or 
justice  when  you  speak  of  him  yourself. 

You  charge  me  with  "  a  new  zeal  in  support  of 
administration,"  and  with  "  endeavours  in  support 
of  the  ministerial  nomination  of  sheriffs."  The  re- 
putation which  your  talents  have  deservedly  gained 
to  the  signature  of  Junius,  draws  from  me  a  reply, 


104  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

which  I  disdained  to  give  to  the  anonymous  lies  of 
Mr.  Wilkes.  You  make  frequent  use  of  the  word 
gentleman  ;  I  only  call  myself  a  man,  and  desire  no 
other  distinction.  If  you  are  either,  you  are  bound 
to  make  good  your  charges,  or  to  confess  that  you 
have  done  me  a  hasty  injustice  upon  no  authority. 

I  put  the  matter  fairly  to  issue.     1  say  that,  so  far 
from  any  "  new  zeal  in  support  of  administration," 
I  am  possessed  with  the  utmost  abhorrence  of  their 
measures  ;  and  that  I  have  ever  shown  myself,  and 
am  still  ready,  in  any  rational  manner,  to  lay  down 
all  I  have — my  life,  in  opposition  to  those  measures. 
1  say,  that  I  have  not,  and  never  have  had,  any 
communication  or  connexion  of  any  kind,  directly  or 
indirectly,   with  any  courtier  or  ministerial  man,  or 
ajiy  of  their  adherents  ;  that  I  never  have  received, 
or  solicited,  or  expected,  or  desired,  or  do  now  hope 
tor,  any  reward  of  any  sort,  from  any  party  or  set 
of  men  in  administration  or  opposition.     I  say,  that 
I  never  used  any  "  endeavours  in  support  of  the  min- 
isterial nomination  of  sheriffs  ;"  that  I  did  not  solicit 
any  one  liveryman  for  his  vote  for  any  one  of  the 
candidates,  nor  employ  any  other  person  to  solicit ; 
and  that  I  did  not  write  one  single  line  or  word  in  fa- 
vour of  Mess.  Plumbe  and  Kirkman,  whom  I  under- 
stand to  have  been  supported  by  the  ministry. 

You  are  bound  to  refute  what  I  here  advance,  or  to 
lose  your  credit  for  veracity.  You  must  produce  facts ; 
surmise  and  general  abuse,  in  however  elegant  lan- 
guage, ought  not  to  pass  for  proofs.  You  have  every 
advantage,  and  I  have  every  disadvantage  :  you  are 
unknown  j  I  give  my  name.  All  parties,  both  in  and 
out  of  administration,  have  their  reasons  (which  I 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  10a 

shall  relate  hereafter)  for  uniting  in  their  wishes  against 
me  :  and  the  popular  prejudice  is  as  strongly  in  your 
favour  as  it  is  violent  against  the  parson. 

Singular  as  my  present  situation  is,  it  is  neither 
painful,  nor  was  it  unforeseen.  He  is  not  fit  for  pub- 
lic business,  who  does  not,  even  at  his  entrance,  pre- 
pare his  mind  for  such  an  event.  Health,  fortune, 
tranquillity,  and  private  connexions,  I  have  sacrificed 
upon  the  altar  of  the  public ;  and  the  only  return  I 
received,  because  I  will  not  concur  to  dupe  and  mis- 
lead a  senseless  multitude,  is  barely,  that  they  have 
not  yet  torn  me  in  pieces.  That  this  has  been  the 
only  return  is  my  pride  and  a  source  of  more  real 
satisfaction  than  honours  or  prosperity.  I  can  prac- 
tise, before  I  am  old,  the  lessons  I  learned  in  my 
youth ;  nor  shall  I  forget  the  words  of  my  ancient 
monitor  : 

"  'Tis  the  last  key-stone 
That  makes  the  arch ;  the  rest  that  there  were  put} 
Are  nothing  till  that  comes  to  bind  and  shut ; 
Then  stands  it  a  triumphal  mark  '  Then  men 
Observe  the  strength,  the  height,  the  why  and  when 
It  was  erected ;  and  still,  walking  under, 
Meet  some  new  matter  to  look  up  and  wonder !" 

I  am,  sir,  vour  humble  servant, 

JOHN  HORNE, 


E  2 


106  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 


J* 

To  the  Reverend  Mr.  Home. 

SIR,  July  24,  1771- 

I  cannot  descend  to  an  altercation  with  you  in  the 
newspapers:  but  since  I  have  attacked  your  charac- 
ter, and  you  complain  of  injustice,  I  think  you  have 
some  right  to  an  explanation.  You  defy  me  to  prove, 
that  you  ever  solicited  a  vote,  or  wrote  a  word  in 
support  of  the  ministerial  aldermen.  Sir,  I  did  never 
suspect  you  of  such  gross  folly.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  for  Mr.  Home  to  have  solicited  votes,  and 
very  difficult  to  have  written  in  the  newspapers  in  de- 
fence of  that  cause,  without  being  detected,  and 
brought  to  shame.  Neither  do  I  pretend  to  any  in- 
telligence concerning  you,  or  to  know  more  of  your 
conduct  than  you  yourself  have  thought  proper  to 
communicate  to  the  public.  It  is  from  your  own  let- 
ters, I  conclude,  that  you  have  sold  yourself  to  the 
ministry  :  or,  if  that  charge  be  too  severe,  and  sup- 
posing it  possible  to  be  deceived  by  appearances  so 
very  strongly  against  you,  what  are  your  friends  to 
say  in  your  defence  ?  Must  they  not  confess,  that,  to 
gratify  your  personal  hatred  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  you  sa- 
crificed, as  far  as  depended  on  your  interest  and 
abilities,  the  cause  of  the  country  ?  I  can  make  al- 
lowances for  the  violence  of  the  passions  ;  and  if  ever 
X  should  be  convinced  that  you  had  no  motive  but  to 
destroy  Wilkes,  I  shall  then  be  ready  to  do  justice  to 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  107 

your  character,  and  to  declare  to  the  world,  that  I 
despise  you  somewhat  less  than  I  do  at  present.  But, 
as  a  public  man,  I  must  for  ever  condemn  you.  You 
cannot  but  know,  (nay,  you  dare  not  pretend  to  be 
ignorant)  that  the  highest  gratifications  of  which  the 
most  detestable  *  *  in  this  nation  is  capable,  would 
have  been  the  defeat  of  Wilkes.  I  know  that  man 
much  better  than  any  of  you.  Nature  intended  him 
only  for  a  good-humoured  fool.  A  systematical 
education,  with  long  practice,  has  made  him  a  con- 
summate hypocrite.  Yet  this  man,  to  say  nothing  of 
his  worthy  ministers,  you  have  most  assiduously  la- 
boured to  gratify.  To  exclude  Wilkes,  it  was  not 
necessary  you  should  solicit  votes  for  his  opponents. 
We  incline  the  balance  as  effectually  by  lessening  the 
weight  in  one  scale,  as  increasing  it  in  the  other. 

The  mode  of  your  attack  upon  Wilkes  (though  I 
am  far  from  thinking  meanly  of  your  abilities)  con- 
vinces me  that  you  either  want  judgment  extremely, 
or  that  you  are  blinded  by  your  resentment.  You 
ought  to  have  foreseen  that  the  charges  you  urged 
against  Wilkes  could  never  do  him  any  mischief. 
After  all,  when  we  expected  discoveries  highly  inter- 
esting to  the  community,  what  a  pitiful  detail  did  it 
end  in  ! — some  old  clothes, — a  Welsh  pony — a. 
French  footman — and  a  hamper  of  claret.  Indeed, 
Mr.  Home,  the  public  should  and  will  forgive  him 
his  claret  and  his  footman,  and  even  the  ambition  of 
making  his  brother  chamberlain  of  London,  as  long 
as  he  stands  forth  against  a  ministry  and  parliament 
who  are  doing  every  thing  they  can  to  enslave  the 
country,  and  as  long  as  he  is  a  thorn  in  the  king's 
side.     You  will  not  suspect  me  of  setting  up  Wilkes 


108  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

for  a  perfect  character.  The  question  to  the  public 
is,  where  shall  we  find  a  man  who,  with  purer  prin- 
ciples, will  go  the  lengths,  and  run  the  hazards,  that 
he  has  done .?  The  season  calls  for  such  a  man,  and 
he  ought  to  be  supported.  What  would  have  been 
the  triumph  of  that  odious  hypocrite  and  his  minions, 
if  Wilkes  had  been  defeated  !  It  was  not  your  fault, 
reverend  sir,  that  he  did  not  enjoy  it  completely. 
But  now,  I  promise  you,  you  have  so  little  power  to 
do  mischief,  that  I  much  question  whether  the  minis- 
try will  adhere  to  the  promises  they  have  made  you. 
ft  will  be  jm  vain  to  say  that  I  am  a  partizan  of  Mr. 
Wilkes,  or  personally  your  enemy.  You  will  con- 
vince no  man,  for  you  do  not  believe  it  yourself. 
Yet  I  confess  I  am  a  little  offended  at  the  low  rate  at 
which  you  seem  to  value  my  understanding.  I  beg, 
Mr.  Home,  you  will  hereafter  believe,  that  I  measure 
the  integrity  of  men  by  their  conduct,  not  by  their 
professions.  Such  tales  may  entertain  Mr.  Oliver,  or 
3rour  grandmother ;  but,  trust  me,  they  are  thrown 
away  upon  Junius. 

You  say  you  are  a  man.  Was  it  generous,  was  it 
manly,  repeatedly  to  introduce  into  a  newspaper,  the 
name  of  a  young  lady  with  whom  you  must  hereto- 
fore have  lived  on  terms  of  politeness  and  good  hu- 
mour ?  But  I  have  done  with  you.  In  my  opinion, 
your  credit  is  irrevocably  ruined.  Mr.  Townshend, 
I  think,  is  nearly  in  the  same  predicament.  Poor 
Oliver  has  been  shamefully  duped  by  you.  You  have 
made  him  sacrifice  all  the  honour  he  got  by  his  im- 
prisonment. As  for  Mr.  Sawbridge,  whose  charac- 
ter I  really  respect,  I  am  astonished  he  does  not  see 
through  your  duplicity.     Never  was  so  base  a  design 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  109 

so  poorly  conducted.  This  letter,*  you  see,  is  not 
intended  for  the  public ;  but,  if  you  think  it  will  do 
you  any  service,  you  are  at  liberty  to  publish  it. 

JUNIUS. 


LII. 


From  the  Rev.  Mr.  Home  io  Junius. 

SIR,  July  31,  1271. 

You  have  disappointed  me.  When  I  told  j'ou  that 
surmise  and  general  abuse,  in  however  elegant  lan- 
guage, ought  not  to  pass  for  proofs,  I  evidentty  hint- 
ed at  the  reply  which  I  expected  :  but  you  have  drop- 
ped your  usual  elegance,  and  seem  willing  to  try  what 
will  be  the  effect  of  surmise  and  general  abuse  in  very 
coarse  language.  Your  answer  to  my  last  letter 
(which,  I  hope,  was  cool,  and  temperate,  and  modest) 
has  convinced  me,  that  my  idea  of  a  man  is  much  su- 
perior to  yours  of  a  gentleman.  Of  your  former 
letters,  I  have  always  said,  JMateriem  superabat  opus  : 
I  do  not  think  so  of  the  present :  the  principles  are 
more  detestable  than  the  expressions  are  mean  and 
illiberal.  I  am  contented  that  all  those  who  adopt 
the  one  should  for  ever  load  me  with  the  other. 

I  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  the  public,  to 
which  I  have  ever  directed  myself:  I  believe  they  have 

*  This  letter  was  transmitted  privately  by  the  printer  to 
Mr.  Home,  at  Junius's  request.  Mr.  Home  returned  it  to 
the  printer,  with  directions  to  publish  it. 


110  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it ;  though  I  am  sometimes  half  inclined  to  saspecT 
that  Mr.  Wilkes  has  formed  a  truer  judgment  of  man- 
kind than  I  have.  However,  of  this  I  am  sure,  that 
there  is  nothing  else  upon  which  to  place  a  steady 
reliance.  Trick,  and  low  cunning,  and  addressing 
their  prejudices  and  passions,  may  be  the  fittest  means 
to  carry  a  particular  point ;  but  if  they  have  not  com- 
mon sense,  there  is  no  prospect  of  gaining  for  them 
any  real  permanent  good.  The  same  passions  which 
have  been  artfully  used  by  an  honest  man  for  their 
advantage,  may  be  more  artfully  employed  by  a  dis- 
honest man  for  their  destruction.  I  desire  them  to 
apply  their  common  sense  to  this  letter  of  Junius, 
not  for  my  sake,  but  their  own  ;  it  concerns  them 
most  nearly  ;  for  the  principles  it  contains  lead  to 
disgrace  and  ruin,  and  are  inconsistent  with  every 
notion  of  civil  society. 

The  charges  which  Junius  has  brought  against  me, 
are  made  ridiculous  by  his  own  inconsistency  and 
,self-contradiction.  He  charges  me  positively  with 
i:  a  new  zeal  in  support  of  administration;"  and  with 
"  endeavours  in  support  of  the  ministerial  nomina- 
tion of  sheriffs."  And  he  assigns  two  inconsistent 
motives  for  my  conduct :  either  that  I  have  "  sold 
myself  to  the  ministry  ;"  or  am  instigated  "  by  the 
solitary  vindictive  malice  of  a  monk  :"  either  that  I 
am  influenced  by  a  sordid  desire  of  gain,  or  am  hur- 
ried on  by  "  personal  hatred,  and  blinded  by  resent- 
ment." In  his  letter  to  the  duke  of  Grafton,  he  sup- 
poses me  actuated  by  both  :  in  his  letter  to  me,  he  at 
first  doubts  which  of  the  two,  whether  interest  or  re- 
venge, is  my  motive.  However,  at  last  he  determines 
for  the  former,  and  again  positively  asserts,  "  that 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  Ill 

the  ministry  have  made  me  promises  :"  yet  he  pro- 
duces no  instance  of  corruption,  nor  pretends  to  have 
any  intelligence  of  a  ministerial  connexion.  He  men- 
tions no  cause  of  personal  hatred  to  Mr.  Wilkes,  nor 
any  reason  for  my  resentment  or  revenge  ;  nor  has 
Mr.  Wilkes  himself  ever  hinted  any,  though  repeat- 
edly pressed.  When  Junius  is  called  upon  to  justify 
his  accusation,  he  answers,  "  He  cannot  descend  to 
an  altercation  with  me  in  the  newspapers."  Junius, 
who  exists  only  in  the  newspapers,  who  acknowledges 
he  has  "  attacked  my  character"  there,  and  thinks 
"  I  have  some  right  to  an  explanation  ;"  yet  this 
Junius  "  cannot  descend  to  an  altercation  in  the 
newspapers  !"  And  because  he  cannot  descend  to 
an  altercation  with  me  in  the  newspapers,  he  sends  a 
letter  of  abuse,  by  the  printer,  which  he  finishes  with 
telling  me,  "  I  am  at  liberty  to  publish  it."  This, 
to  be  sure,  is  a  most  excellent  method  to  avoid  an 
altercation  in  the  newspapers! 

The  proofs  of  his  positive  charges  are  as  extraor- 
dinary. "  He  does  not  pretend  to  any  intelligence 
concerning  me,  or  to  know  more  of  m}r  conduct  than 
I  myself  have  thought  proper  to  communicate  to  the 
public."  He  does  not  suspect  me  of  such  gross  folly 
as  to  have  solicited  votes,  or  to  have  written  anony- 
mously in  the  newspapers;  because  it  is  impossible  to 
do  either  without  being  detected,  and  brought  to 
shame.  Junius  says  this  !  who  yet  imagines  that  he 
has  himself  written  two  years  under  that  signature 
(and  more  under  others)  without  being  detected  !  his 
warmest  admirers  will  not  hereafter  add,  without  be- 
ing brought  to  shame.  But,  though  he  never  did 
suspect  me  of  such  gross  folly,  as  to  run  the  hazard 


112  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

of  being  detected,  and  brought  to  shame,  by  anony- 
mous writing,  he  insists  that  I  have  been  guilty  of  a 
much  grosser  folly,  of  incurring  the  certainty  of  shame 
and  detection,  by  writings  signed  with  my  name  ! 
But  this  is  a  small  flight  for  the  towering  Junius  : 
"  He  is  far  from  thinking  meanly  of  my  abilities," 
though  "  he  is  convinced  that  I  want  judgment  ex^ 
tremely  f  and  can  "  really  respect  Mr.  Sawbridge's 
character,"  though  he  declares  him*  to  be  so  poor  a 
creature,  as  not  to  "  see  through  the  basest  design, 
conducted  in  the  poorest  manner.  And  this  most 
base  design  is  conducted  in  the  poorest  manner  by  a 
man,  whom  he  does  not  suspect  of  gross  folly,  and  of 
whose  abilities  he  is  far  from  thinking  meanly  ! 

Should  we  ask  Junius   to  reconcile  these  contra- 
dictions,   and  explain  this  nonsense,    the  answer  is 

*  I  beg  leave  to  introduce  Mr.  Home  to  the  character  of 
the  Donhle  Dealer.  I  thought  they  had  been  better  ac- 
quainted. "  Another  very  wrong  objection  has  been  made 
by  some,  who  have  not  taken  leisure  to  distinguish  the 
characters.  The  hero  of  the  play  (meaning  Melefont)  is  a 
gull,  and  made  a  fool,  and  cheated.  Is  every  man  a  gull 
and  a  fool  that  is  deceived  ?  At  that  rate,  I  am  afraid,  the 
two  classes  of  men  will  be  reduced  to  one,  and  the  knaves 
themselves  be  at  a  loss  to  justify  their  title.  But  if  an  open, 
honest-hearted  man,  who  has  an  entire  confidence  in  one 
whom  he  takes  to  be  his  friend,  and  who  (to  confirm  him  in 
his  opinion)  in  all  appearance,  and  upon  several  trials,  has 
been  so,  if  this  man  be  deceived  by  the  treachery  of  the 
other,  must  he  of  necessity  commence  fool  immediately, 
only  because  the  other  has  proved  a  villain  ?"  Yes,  says 
parson  Home.  No,  says  Congreve :  and  he,  I  think,  is  al- 
lowed to  have  known  something  of  human  nature. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  113 

ready :  "  He  cannot  descend  to  an  altercation  in  the 
newspapers."  He  feels  no  reluctance  to  attack  the 
character  of  any  man  :  the  throne  is  not  too  high, 
nor  the  cottage  too  low  :  his  mighty  malice  can  grasp 
both  extremes.  He  hints  not  his  accusations  as  opin- 
ion, conjecture,  or  inference,  but  delivers  them  as 
positive  assertions.  Do  the  accused  complain  of  in- 
justice? He  acknowledges  they  have  some  sort  of 
right  to  an  explanation  ;  but  if  they  ask  for  proofs 
and  facts,  he  begs  to  be  excused  ;  and  though  he  is 
no  where  else  to  be  encountered,  "  he  cannot  descend 
to  an  altercation  in  the  newspapers." 

And  this,  perhaps,  Junius  may  think  "  the  liberal 
resentment  of  a  gentleman  ;"  this  sculking  assassina- 
tion he  may  call  courage.  In  all  things,  as  in  this,  I 
hope  we  differ. 

"  I  thought  that  fortitude  had  been  a  mean 
'Twixt  fear  and  rashness;  not  a  lust  obscene, 
Or  appetite  of  offending  ;  but  a  skill 
And  nice  discernment  between  good  and  ill. 
Her  ends  are  honesty  and  public  good  : 
And  without  lliese  she  is  not  understood." 

Of  two  things,  however,  he  has  condescended  to 
give  proof.  He  very  properly  produces  a  young  lady 
to  prove  that  I  am  not  a  man;  and  a  good  old  woman. 
my  grandmother,  to  prove  Mr.  Oliver  a  fool.  Poor 
old  soul !  she  read  her  Bible  far  otherwise  than  Ju- 
nius !  She  often  found  there,  that  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  had  been  visited  on  the  children  ;  and  there- 
fore was  cautious  that  herself,  and  her  immediate 
descendants,  should  leave  no  reproach  on  her  poster- 
ity :  and  they  left  none.     How  little  could  she  fore 

8 


114  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

see  this  reverse  of  Junius,  who  visits  my  political  siif? 
upon  my  grandmother !  I  do  not  charge  this  to  the 
score  of  malice  in  him;  it  proceeded  entirely  from  his 
propensity  to  blunder ;  that  whilst  he  was  reproach- 
ing me  for  introducing,  in  the  most  harmless  manner, 
the  name  of  one  female,  he  might  himself,  at  the  same 
instant,  introduce  two. 

I  am  represented,  alternately,  as  it  suits  Junius's 
purpose,  under  the  opposite  characters  of  a  gloomy 
monk,  and  a  man  of  politeness  and  good-humour.  I 
am  called  "  a  solitary  monk,"  in  order  to  confirm  the 
notion  given  of  me  in  Mr.  Wilkes's  anonymous  para- 
graphs, that  I  never  laugh.  And  the  terms  of  polite- 
ness and  good-humour,  on  which  I  am  said  to  have 
lived  heretofore  with  the  young  lady,  are  intended  to 
confirm  other  paragraphs  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  in  which  he 
is  supposed  to  have  offended  me  by  refusing  his  daugh- 
ter. Ridiculous  !  Yet  I  cannot  deny  but  that  Junius 
has  proved  me  unmanly  and  ungenerous,  as  clearly 
as  he  has  shown  me  corrupt  and  vindictive :  and  I 
will  tell  him  more  ;  I  have  paid  the  present  ministry 
as  many  visits  and  compliments  as  ever  I  paid  to  the 
young  lady ;  and  shall  all  my  life  treat  them  with  the 
same  politeness  and  good-humour. 

But  Junius  "  begs  me  to  believe,  that  he  measures 
the  integrity  of  men  by  their  conduct,  not  by  their 
professions."  Sure  this  Junius  must  imagine  his 
readers  as  void  of  understanding  as  he  is  of  modesty  ! 
Where  shall  we  find  the  standard  of  his  integrity  ? 
By  what  are  we  to  measure  the  conduct,  of  this  lurk- 
ing assassin  ?  And  he  says  this  to  me,  whose  conduct, 
wherever  I  could  personally  appear,  has  been  as 
direct,  and  open,  and  public,  as  my  words.     I  have 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  LIB 

not,  like  him,  concealed  myself  in  my  chamber,  to 
shoot  my  arrows  out  of  the  window ;  nor  contented 
myself  to  view   the  battle   from   afar ;  but  publicly 
mixed  in  the   engagement,  and  shared  the  danger. 
To  whom  have  I,  like  him,   refused  my  name,  upon 
complaint  of  injury  I     What  printer  have  I  desired 
to  conceal  me .?     In  the  infinite  variety  of  business  in 
which  I  have  been  concerned,  where  it  is  not  so  easy 
to  be  faultless,  which  of  my  actions  can  he  arraign  ? 
To  what  danger  has  any  man  been  exposed,  which  I 
have  not  faced  .?     Information,  action,  imprisonment, 
or  death?     What   labour   have  I    refused?     What 
expense  have  I  declined  ?     What  pleasure  have  I  not 
renounced  ?     But  Junius,  to  whom  no  conduct  be- 
longs, "  measures  the  integrity  of  men  by  their  con- 
duct, not  by  their  professions :"  himself,  all  the  while, 
being  nothing  but  professions,  and  those  too  anony- 
mous.    The  political  ignorance,  or  wilful  falsehood, 
of  this  declaimer,  is  extreme.     His  own  former  letters 
justify  both  my  conduct  and  those  whom  his  last  let- 
ter abuses :  for  the  public  measures  which  Junius  has 
been  all  along  defending,  were  ours  whom  he  attacks  ; 
and  the  uniform  opposer  of  those  measures  has  been 
Mr.  Wilkes,  whose  bad  actions  and  intentions  he  en- 
deavours to  screen. 

Let  Junius  now,  if  he  pleases,  change  his  abuse, 
and  quitting  his  loose  hold  of  interest  and  revenge, 
accuse  me  of  vanity,  and  call  this  defence  boasting. 
I  own  I  have  pride  to  see  statues  decreed,  and  the 
highest  honours  conferred,  for  measures  and  actions 
which  all  men  have  approved  ;  whilst  those  who  coun- 
selled and  caused  them  are  execrated  and  insulted. 
The  darkness  in  which  Junius  thinks  himself  shroud- 


116  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

ed,  has  not  concealed  him  ;  nor  the  artifice  of  only 
attacking  under  thai  signature  those  he  would  pull 
down,  whilst  he  recommends  by  other  xoays  those  he 
would  have  promoted,  disguised  from  me  whose  par- 
tizan   he  is.     When  lord  Chatham  can  forgive  the 
awkward  situation  in  which,  for  the  sake  of  the  pub- 
lic, he  was  designedly  placed  by  the  thanks  to  him 
from  the  city  ;  and  when  Wilkes's  name  ceases  to  be 
necessary  to  lord  Rockingham,  to  keep  up  a  clamour 
against  the  persons  of  the  ministry,  without  obliging 
the  different  factions,  now  in  opposition,  to  bind  them- 
selves beforehand  to  some  certain  points,  and  to  stip- 
ulate some   precise   advantages  to  the  public  ;  then, 
and  not  till  then,  may  those  whom  he  now  abuses  ex- 
pect the  approbation  of  Junius.     The  approbation  of 
the  public,  for  our  faithful  attention  to  their  interest, 
by  endeavours  for  those  stipulations,  which  have  made 
us  as  obnoxious  to  the  factions  in  opposition  as  to 
those  in  administration,  is  not,  perhaps,  to  be  expect- 
ed till  some  years  hence  ;  when  the  public  will  look 
back,  and  see  how   shamefully  they  have  been   de- 
luded, and  by  what   arts  they  were  made  to  lose  the 
golden    opportunity    of  preventing   what   they  will 
surely  experience, — a  change  of  ministers,  without  a 
material  change  of  measures,  and  without  any  secu- 
rity for  a  tottering  constitution.     But  what  cares  Ju- 
nius for  the  security  of  the  constitution  ?    He  has  now 
unfolded  to  us  his  diabolical  principles.     As  a  public 
man  he  must  ever  condemn  any  measure  which  may 
tend  accidentally  to  gratify  the  sovereign  ;  and  Mr. 
Wilkes  is  to  be  supported  and  assisted  in  all  his  at- 
tempts (no  matter  how  ridiculous  and  mischievous  his 
projects)  as  long  as  he  continues  to  be  a  thorn  in  iht 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  117 

fang's  side !   The  cause  of  the  country,  it  seems,  in  the 
opinion  of  Junius,  is  merely  to  vex  the  king;  and  any 
rascal  is  to  be  supported  in  any  roguery,  provided  he 
can  only  thereby  plant  a   thorn  in   the  king's  side. 
This  is  the  very  extremity  of  faction,  and  the  last  de- 
gree of  political  wickedness.     Because  lord  Chatham 
has  been  ill  treated  by  the  king,  and   treacherously 
betrayed  by  the  duke  of  Grafton,  the  latter  is  to  be 
"  the  pillow  on  which  Junius  will  rest  his  resentment;" 
and  the  public  are  to  oppose  the  measures  of  govern- 
ment from  mere  motives  of  personal  enmity  to  the 
sovereign  !     These  are  the  avowed  principles  of  the 
man  who,  in  the  same  letter,  says,  "  If  ever  he  should 
be  convinced  that  I  had  no  motive  but  to  destroy 
Wilkes,   he  shall  then  be  ready  to  do  justice  to  my 
character,  and  to  declare  to  the  world,  that  he  despi- 
ses me  somewhat  less  than  he  does  at  present!"    Had 
I  ever  acted  from  personal  affection  or  enmity  to  Mr. 
Wilkes,  I  should  justly  be  despised  :  but  what  does 
he  deserve,  whose  avowed  motive  is  personal  enmity 
to  the  sovereign  ?     The   contempt  which  I   should 
otherwise  feel  for  the  absurdity  and  glaring  inconsis- 
tency of  Junius,  is  here  swallowed  up  in  my  abhor- 
rence of  his  principles.     The  right  divine  and  sacred- 
ness  of  kings  is  to  me  a  senseless  jargon.     It  was 
thought  a  daring  expression  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  in 
the  time  of  Charles  the  First,  that,  if  he  found  him- 
self placed  opposite  to  the  king  in  battle,  he  would 
discharge  his   piece  into   his  bosom  as  soon,  as  into 
any  other  man's.     I  go  farther  :  had  I  lived  in  those 
days,  I  would  not  have  waited  for  chance  to  give  me 
an  opportunity  of  doing  my  duty;  I  would  have  sought 
him  through  the  ranks,  and,  without  the  least  per- 


118  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

sonal  enmity,  have  discharged  my  piece  into  his 
bosom  rather  than  into  any  other  man's.  The  king, 
whose  actions  justify  rebellion  to  his  government, 
deserves  death  from  the  hand  of  every  subject.  And 
should  such  a  time  arrive,  I  shall  be  as  free  to  act  as 
to  say ;  but,  till  then,  my  attachment  to  the  person 
and  family  of  the  sovereign  shall  ever  be  found  more 
zealous  and  sincere  than  that  of  his  flatterers.  I 
would  offend  the  sovereign  with  as  much  reluctance 
as  the  parent :  but  if  the  happiness  and  security  of 
the  whole  family  made  it  necessary,  so  far,  and  no 
farther,  I  would  offend  him  without  remorse. 

But  let  us  consider  a  little  whither  these  principles 
of  Junius  would  lead  us.  Should  Mr.  Wilkes  once 
more  commission  Mr.  Thomas  Walpole  to  procure 
for  him  a  pension  of  one  thousand  pounds,  upon  the 
Irish  establishment,  for  thirty  years,  he  must  be  sup- 
ported in  the  demand  by  the  public,  because  it  would 
mortify  the  king  ! 

Should  he  wish  to  see  lord  Rockingham  and  his 
friends  once  more  in  administration,  unclogged  by 
any  stipulations  for  the  people,  that  he  might  again 
enjoy  a  pension  of  one  thousand  and  forty  pounds  a 
year,  viz.  from  the  first  lord  of  the  treasury,  500/. 
from  the  lords  of  the  treasury,  60/.  each  :  from  the 
lords  of  trade,  40Z.  each,  he.  the  public  must  give  up 
their  attention  to  points  of  national  benefit,  and  assist 
Mr.  Wilkes  in  his  attempt,  because  it  would  mortify 
the  king  ! 

Should  he  demand  the  government  of  Canada,  or 
of  Jamaica,  or  the  embassy  to  Constantinople,  and, 
in  case  of  refusal,  threaten  to  write  them  down,  as 
he  had  before  served  another  administration,  in  a 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  US 

year  and  a  half,  he  must  be  supported  in  his  preten- 
sions, and  upheld  in  his  insolence,  because  it  would 
mortify  the  king  ! 

Junius  may  choose  to  suppose  that  these  things 
cannot  happen  !  But,  that  they  have  happened,  not- 
withstanding Mr.  Wilkes's  denial,  I  do  aver.  I  main- 
tain that  Mr.  Wilkes  did  commission  Mr.  Thomas 
Walpole  to  solicit  for  him  a  pension  of  one  thousand 
pounds,  on  the  Irish  establishment,  for  thirty  years  ; 
with  which,  and  a  pardon,  he  declared  he  would  be 
satisfied:  and  that,  notwithstanding  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Onslow,  he  did  accept  a  clandestine,  precarious,  and 
eleemosynary  pension  from  the  Rockingham  admin- 
istration, which  they  paid  in  proportion  to,  and  out  of 
their  salaries ;  and  so  entirely  was  it  ministerial,  that, 
as  any  of  them  went  out  of  the  ministry,  their  names 
were  scratched  out  of  the  list,  and  they  contributed 
no  longer.  I  say,  he  did  solicit  the  governments, 
and  the  embassy,  and  threatened  their  refusal  nearly 
in  these  words  :  "  It  cost  me  a  year  and  a  half  to 
write  down  the  last  administration  ;  should  I  employ 
as  much  time  upon  you,  very  few  of  you  would  be  in 
at  the  death."  When  these  threats  did  not  prevail, 
he  came  over  to  England  to  embarrass  them  by  his 
presence  :  and  when  he  found  that  lord  Rockingham 
was  something  firmer  and  more  manly  than  he  ex- 
pected, and  refused  to  be  bullied  into  what  he  could 
not  perform,  Mr.  Wilkes  declared  that  he  could  not 
leave  England  without  money;  and  the  duke  of  Port- 
land and  lord  Rockingham  purchased  his  absence 
with  one  hundred  pounds  a-piece,  with  which  he  re- 
turned to  Paris.  And  for  the  truth  of  what  I  here 
advance,  I  appeal  to  the  duke  of  Portland,  to  lord 


120  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

Rockingham,  to  John  lord  Cavendish,  to  Mr.  Wal- 
pole,  &c  I  appeal  to  the  hand-writing  of  Mr.  Wilkes, 
which  is  still  extant. 

Should  Mr.  Wilkes  afterwards  (failing  in  this 
wholesale  trade)  choose  to  dole  out  his  popularity 
by  the  pound,  and  expose  the  city  offices  to  sale  to 
liis  brother,  his  attorney,  he.  Junius  will  tell  us, 
it  is  only  an  ambition  that  he  has  to  make  them 
chamberlain,  town  clerk,  &ic.  and  he  must  not  be 
opposed  in  thus  robbing  the  ancient  citizens  of  their 
birthright,  because  any  defeat  of  Mr.  Wilkes  would 
gratify  the  king  ! 

Should  he,  after  consuming  the  whole  of  his  own 
fortune  and  that  of  his  wife,  and  incurring  a  debt  of 
twenty  thousand  pounds,  merely  by  his  own  private 
extravagance,  without  a  single  service  or  exertion  all 
this  time  for  the  public,  whilst  his  estate  remained  ; 
should  he,  at  length,  being  undone,  commence  patriot ; 
have  the  good  fortune  to  be  illegally  persecuted,  and, 
in  consideration  of  that  illegality,  be  espoused  by  a 
few  gentlemen  of  the  purest  public  principles:  should 
his  debts,  though  none  of  them  were  contracted,  for 
the  public,  and  all  his  other  encumbrances,  be  dis- 
charged; should  he  be  offered  600?.  or  1000Z.  a  year 
to  make  him  independent  for  the  future  ;  and  should 
he,  after  all,  instead  of  gratitude  for  these  services, 
insolently  forbid  his  benefactors  to  bestow  their  own 
money  upon  any  other  object  but  himself,  and  revile 
them  for  setting  any  bounds  to  their  supplies;  Junius 
(who,  any  more  than  lord  Chatham,  never  contributed 
one  farthing  to  these  enormous  expenses)  will  tell 
them,  that  if  they  think  of  converting  the  supplies  of 
Mh  Wilkes's  private  extravagance  to  the  support  of 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  121 

public  measures,  they  are  as  great  fools  as  my  grand- 
mother ;  and  that  Mr.  Wilkes  ought  to  hold  the  strings 
of  their  purses,  as  long  as  he  continues  to  be  a  thorn 
in  the  king's  side ! 

Upon  these  principles  I  never  have  acted,  and  1 
never  will  act.  In  my  opinion,  it  is  less  dishonoura- 
ble to  be  the  creature  of  a  court,  than  the  tool  of  a 
faction.  I  will  not  be  either.  I  understand  the  two 
great  leaders  of  opposition  to  be  lord  Rockingham 
and  lord  Chatham  ;  under  one  of  whose  banners  all 
the  opposing  members  of  both  houses,  who  desire  to 
get  places,  enlist.  I  can  place  no  confidence  in  either 
of  them,  or  in  any  others,  unless  they  will  now  engage, 
whilst  they  are  out,  to  grant  certain  essential  advan- 
tages for  the  security  of  the  public  when  they  shall 
be  in  administration.  These  points  they  refuse  to 
stipulate,  because  they  are  fearful  lest  they  should 
prevent  any  future  overtures  from  the  court.  To 
force  them  to  these  stipulations  has  been  the  uniform 
endeavour  of  Mr.  Sawbridge,  Mr.  Townshend,  Mr. 
Oliver,  &c.  and  therefore  they  are  abused  by  Junius. 
1  know  no  reason,  but  my  zeal  and  industry  in  the 
same  cause,  that  should  entitle  me  to  the  honour  of 
being  ranked  hy  his  abuse  with  persons  of  their  for- 
tune and  station.  It  is  a  duty  I  owe  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  Mr.  Beckford,  to  say,  that  he  had  no  other 
aim  than  this,  when  he  provided  that  sumptuous  en- 
tertainment at  the  Mansion  House,  for  the  members 
of  both  houses  in  opposition.  At  that  time,  he  drew 
up  the  heads  of  an  engagement,  which  he  gave  to  me. 
with  a  request  that  I  would  couch  it  in  terms  so  cau- 
tious and  precise,  as  to  leave  no  room  for  futiuv 
quibble  and  evasion  ;  but  to   oblige   them  either  to 

VOL.  II.  F 


122  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

fulfil  the  intent  of  the  obligation,  or  to  sign  their  own 
infamy,  and  leave  it  on  record  ;  and  this  engagement 
he  was  determined  to  propose  to  them  at  the  Mansion 
House,  that  either  by  their  refusal  they  might  forfeit 
the  confidence  of  the  public,  or,  by  the  engagement, 
lay  a  foundation  for  confidence. 

When  they  were  informed  of  the  intention,  lord 
Rockingham  and  his  friends  flatly  refused  any  en- 
gagement ;  and  Mr.  Beckford  as  flatly  swore,  they 
should  then  "  eat  none  of  his  broth  j"  and  he  was 
determined  to  put  off  the  entertainment ;  but  Mi 
Beckford  was  prevailed  upon  by  *  *  *  to  indulge 
them  in  the  ridiculous  parade  of  a  popular  proces 
sion  through  the  city,  and  to  give  them  the  foolish 
pleasure  of  an  imaginary  consequence,  for  the  rea* 
benefit  only  of  the  cooks  and  purveyors. 

It  was  the  same  motive  which  dictated  the  thanks  ok 
the  city  to  lord  Chatham ;  which  were  expressed  to  be 
given  for  his  declaration  in  favour  of short  parliaments f 
in  order  thereby  to  fix  lord  Chatham,  at  least,  to  that 
one  constitutional  remedy,  without  which  all  others; 
can  afford  no  security.  The  embarrassment,  no  doubt, 
was  cruel.  He  had  his  choice,  either  to  offend  the 
Rockingham  party,  who  declared  formally  against 
short  parliaments,  and  with  the  assistance  of  whose 
numbers  in  both  houses  he  must  expect  again  to  be 
minister,  or  to  give  up  the  confidence  of  the  public, 
from  whom,  finally,  all  real  consequence  must  pro- 
ceed. Lord  Chatham  chose  the  latter;  and  I  will 
venture  to  say,  that,  by  his  answer  to  those  thanks, 
he  has  given  up  the  people  without  gaining  the 
friendship  or  cordial  assistance  of  the  Rockingham 
faction,  whose  little  politics  are  confined  to  the  mak- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  123 

ing  of  matches,  and  extending  their  family  connex- 
ions ;  and  who  think  they  gain  more  by  procuring' 
one  additional  vote  to  their  party  in  the  house  of 
commons,  than  by  adding  their  languid  property,  and 
feeble  character,  to  the  abilities  of  a  Chatham,  or  the 
confidence  of  a  public. 

Whatever  may  be  the  event  of  the  present  wretched 
state  of  politics  in  this  country,  the  principles  of  Ju- 
nius will  suit  no  form  of  government.  They  are  not 
to  be  tolerated  under  any  constitution.  Personal  en- 
mity is  a  motive  fit  only  for  the  devil.  Whoever,  or 
whatever  is  sovereign,  demands  the  respect  and  sup- 
port of  the  people.  The  union  is  formed  for  their 
happiness,  which  cannot  be  had  without  mutual  res- 
pect ;  and  he  counsels  maliciously  who  would  per- 
suade either  to  a  wanton  breach  of  it.  When  it  is 
banished  by  either  party,  and  when  every  method 
has  been  tried  in  vain  to  restore  it,  there  is  no  reme- 
dy but  a  divorce  ;  but  even  then  he  must  have  a 
hard  and  a  wicked  heart  indeed,  who  punishes  the 
greatest  criminal  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  punish- 
ment j  and  who  does  not  let  fall  a  tear  for  every  drop 
of  blood  that  is  shed  in  a  public  struggle,  however 

just  the  quarrel. 

JOHN  HORNE. 


124  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


LIII. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  15,  1771. 

I  ought  to  make  an  apology  to  the  duke  of  Graf- 
ton, for  suffering  any  part  of  my  attention  to  be  di- 
verted from  his  grace  to  Mr.  Home.  I  am  not  justi- 
fied by  the  similarity  of  their  dispositions.  Private 
vices,  however  detestable,  have  not  dignity  sufficient 
to  attract  the  censure  of  the  press,  unless  they  are 
united  with  the  power  of  doing  some  signal  mischief 
to  the  community.  Mr.  Home's  situation  does  not 
correspond  with  his  intentions.  In  my  opinion,  (which 
I  know  will  be  attributed  to  my  usual  vanity  and  pre- 
sumption) his  letter  to  me  does  not  deserve  an  answer. 
But  I  understand  that  the  public  are  not  satisfied  with 
my  silence;  that  an  answer  is  expected  from  me;  and 
that  if  I  persist  in  refusing  to  plead,  it  will  be  taken 
for  conviction.  I  should  be  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  I  profess,  if  I  declined  an  appeal  to  the  good 
sense  of  the  people,  or  did  not  willingly  submit  my- 
self to  the  judgment  of  my  peers. 

If  any  coarse  expressions  have  escaped  me,  I  am 
ready  to  agree  that  they  are  unfit  for  Junius  to  make 
use  of;  but  I  see  no  reason  to  admit  that  they  have 
been  improperly  applied. 

Mr.  Home,  it  seems,  is  unable  to  comprehend  how 
an  extreme  want  of  conduct  and  discretion  can  con 
#ist  with  the  abilities  I  have  allowed  him  ;  nor  can  he 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  125 

r.cnceive  that  a  very  honest  man,  with  a  very  good 
understanding,  may  be  deceived  by  a  knave.     His 
knowledge  of  human  nature  must  lie  limited  indeed. 
Had  he  never  mixed  with  the  world,  one  would  have 
thought  that  even  his  books  might  have  taught  him 
better— Did  he  hear  lord  Mansfield  when  he  defended 
his  doctrine  concerning  libels  r  Or  when  he  stated  the 
law  in  prosecutions  for  criminal  conversation  ?     Or 
when  he  delivered  his  reasons  for  calling  the  house  of 
lords  together  to  receive  a  copy  of  his  charge  to  the  jury 
in  Woodfall's  trial  ?     Had  he  been  present  upon  any 
of  these  occasions,  he  would  have  seen  how  possible  it 
is  for  a  man  of  the  first  talents  to  confound  himself 
in  absurdities,   which  would  disgrace  the  lips   of  an 
idiot.     Perhaps  the  example  might  have  taught  him 
not  to  value  his  own  understanding  so  highly.    Lord 
Lyttleton's  integrity  and  judgment  are  unquestiona- 
ble; yet  he  is  known  to  admire  that  cunning  Scotch- 
man, and  verily   believes   him    an   honest   man.      ) 
speak  to  facts,  with  which  all  of  us  are  conversant, 
I  speak  to  men,  and  to  their  experience  ;  and  will  not 
descend  to  answer  the  little  sneering  sophistries  of  a 
•collegian.     Distinguished  talents  are  not  necessarily 
connected  with  discretion.     If  there  be  any  thing  re- 
markable in  the  character  of  Mr.  Home,  it  is,  that 
extreme  want  of  judgment  should  be  united  with  his 
very  moderate  capacity.-— Yet  I  have  not  forgotten 
the  acknowledgment  T  made  him  ;  he  owes  it  to  m\ 
bounty  :  and  though  his  letter  has  lowered  him  in  my 
opinion,  I  scorn  to  retract  the  charitable  donation. 

I  said  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  Mr.  Home  to 
write  directly  in  defence  of  a  ministerial  measure,  and 
not  to  be  detected,  and  even  that  difficulty  I  confined 


126  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

to  his  particular  situation.  He  changes  the  terms  of 
the  proposition,  and  supposes  me  to  assert,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  any  man  to  write  for  the 
newspapers,  and  not  be  discovered. 

He  repeatedly  affirms,  or  intimates  at  least,  that  he 
knows  the  author  of  these  letters.  With  what  colour 
of  truth,  then,  can  he  pretend,  "  That  I  am  no  where 
to  be  encountered  but  in  a  newspaper  ?"  I  shall  leave 
him  to  his  suspicions.  It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should 
confide  in  the  honour  and  discretion  of  a  man,  who 
already  seems  to  hate  me  with  as  much  rancour  as  if 
[  had  formerly  been  his  friend.  But  he  asserts,  that 
he  has  traced  me  through  a  variety  of  signatures. 
To  make  the  discovery  of  any  importance  to  his  pur- 
pose, he  should  have  proved,  either  that  the  fictitious 
character  of  Junius  has  not  been  consistently  sup- 
ported, or  that  the  author  has  maintained  different 
principles  under  different  signatures.  I  cannot  recall 
to  my  memory  the  numberless  trifles  I  have  written  : 
but  I  rely  upon  the  consciousness  of  my  own  integri- 
ty, and  defy  him  to  fix  any  colourable  charge  of  in- 
consistency upon  me. 

I  am  not  bound  to  assign  the  secret  motives  of  his 
apparent  hatred  of  Mr.  Wilkes  :  nor  does  it  follow 
that  I  may  not  judge  fairly  of  his  conduct,  though 
it  were  true  that  I  had  no  conduct  of  my  own.  Mr. 
Home  enlarges  with  rapture  upon  the  importance  of 
his  services ;  the  dreadful  battles  which  he  might  have 
been  engaged  in,  and  the  dangers  he  has  escaped.  In 
support  of  the  formidable  description  he  quotes  verses 
without  mercy.  The  gentleman  deals  in  fiction,  and 
naturally  appeals  to  the  evidence  of  the  poets.  Taking 
him  at  his  word,  he  cannot  but  admit  the  superiority 


JUNIUSS  LETTERS.  127 

of  Mr.  Wilkes  in  this  line  of  service.  On  one  side, 
we  see  nothing  but  imaginary  distress ;  on  the  other, 
we  see  real  prosecutions ;  real  penalties ;  real  impri- 
sonment ;  life  repeatedly  hazarded  ;  and,  at  one  mo- 
ment, almost  the  certainty  of  death.  Thanks  are 
undoubtedly  due  to  every  man  who  does  his  duty  in 
the  engagement,  but  it  is  the  wounded  soldier  who 
deserves  the  reward. 

I  did  not  mean  to  deny,  that  Mr.  Home  had  been 
an  active  partisan.  It  would  defeat  my  own  purpose 
not  to  allow  him  a  degree  of  merit  which  aggravates 
his  guilt.  The  very  charge  "  of  contributing  his  ut- 
most efforts  to  support  a  ministerial  measure,"  implies 
an  acknowledgment  of  his  former  services.  If  he  had 
not  once  been  distinguished  by  his  apparent  zeal  in 
defence  of  the  common  cause,  he  could  not  now  be 
distinguished  by  deserting  it.  As  for  mj-self,  it  is  no 
longer  a  question,  "  Whether  I  shall  mix  with  the 
throng,  and  take  a  single  share  in  the  danger." 
Whenever  Junius  appears,  he  must  encounter  a  host 
of  enemies.  But  is  there  no  honourable  way  to  serve 
the  public,  without  engaging  in  personal  quarrels  with 
insignificant  individuals,  or  submitting  to  the  drud- 
gery of  canvassing  votes  for  an  election  ?  Is  there 
no  merit  in  dedicating  my  life  to  the  information  of 
my  fellow-subjects  ?  What  public  question  have  I 
declined  ?  What  villain  have  I  spared  ?  Is  there  no 
labour  in  the  composition  of  these  letters  ?  Mr. 
Home,  I  fear  is  partial  to  me,  and  measures  the  fa- 
cility of  my  writings  by  the  fluency  of  his  own. 

He  talks  to  us  in  high  terms  of  the  gallant  feats  he 
would  have  performed  if  he  had  lived  in  the  last  cen- 
tury     The  unhappy  Charles  could  hardly  have  es- 


i28  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

caped  him.  Bat  living  princes  have  a  claim  to  his 
attachment  and  respect.  Upon  these  terms,  there  h 
no  danger  in  being  a  patriot.  If  he  means  any  thing 
more  than  a  pompous  rhapsody,  let  us  try  how  well 
his  argument  holds  together.  I  presume  he  is  not  yet 
so  much  a  courtier  as  to  affirm  that  the  constitution 
has  not  been  grossly  and  daringly  violated  under  the 
present  reign.  He  will  not  say,  that  the  laws  have 
not  been  shamefully  broken  or  perverted ;  that  the 
rights  of  the  subject  have  not  been  invaded  ;  or,  that 
redress  has  not  been  repeatedly  solicited  and  refused. 
Grievances,  like  these,  were  the  foundation  of  the  re- 
bellion in  the  last  century  ;  and,  if  I  understand  Mr. 
Home,  they  would,  at  that  period,  have  justified 
him,  to  his  own  mind,  in  deliberately  attacking  the 
life  of  his  sovereign.  I  shall  not  ask  him,  to  what 
political  constitution  this  doctrine  can  be  reconciled  : 
but,  at  least,  it  is  incumbent  upon  him  to  show,  that 
the  present  king  has  better  excuses  than  Charles  the 
First,  for  the  errors  of  his  government.  He  ought 
to  demonstrate  to  us,  that  the  constitution  was  better 
understood  a  hundred  years  ago,  than  it  is  at  present; 
that  the  legal  rights  of  the  subject,  and  the  limits  of 
the  prerogative,  were  more  accurately  defined,  and 
more  clearly  comprehended.  If  propositions  like 
these  cannot  be  fairly  maintained,  I  do  not  see  how 
he  can  reconcile  it  to  his  conscience,  not  to  act  im- 
mediately with  the  same  freedom  with  which  he  speaks. 
I  reverence  the  character  of  Charles  the  First  as  lit- 
tle as  Mr.  Home  ;  but  I  will  not  insult  his  misfor- 
tunes by  a  comparison  that  would  degrade  him. 

It  is  worth  observing,  by  what  gentle  degrees  the 
furious,  persecuting  zeal  of  Mr.  Home  has  softened 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  129 

into  moderation.  Men  and  measures  were  yesterday 
his  object.  What  pains  did  he  once  take  to  bring  that 
great  state  criminal  J\'P  Quirk  to  execution  !  To-dav 
he  confines  himself  to  measures  only  ;  no  penal  ex- 
ample is  to  be  left  to  the  successors  of  the  duke  of 
Grafton.  To-morrow,  I  presume,  both  men  and 
measures  will  be  forgiven.  The  flaming  patriot,  who 
so  lately  scorched  us  in  the  meridian,  sinks  temper- 
ately to  the  west,  and  is  hardly  felt  as  he  descends. 

I  comprehend  (he  policy  of  endeavouring  to  com- 
municate to  Mr.  Oliver  and  Mr.  Sawbridge  a  share 
in  the  reproaches  with  which  he  supposes  me  to  have 
loaded  him.  My  memory  fails  me,  if  I  have  men- 
tioned their  names  with  disrespect ;  unless  it  be  re- 
proachful to  acknowledge  a  sincere  respect  for  the 
character  of  Mr.  Sawbridge,  and  not  to  have  ques- 
tioned the  innocence  of  Mr.  Oliver's  intentions. 

It  seems  I  am  a  partizan  of  the  great  leader  of  the 
opposition.  If  the  charge  had  been  a  reproach,  it 
should  have  been  better  supported.  I  did  not  intend 
to  make  a  public  declaration  of  the  respect  I  bear  lord 
Chatham  ;  I  well  knew  what  unworthy  conclusions 
would  be  drawn  from  it.  But  I  am  called  upon  to 
deliver  my  opinion  ;  and  surely  it  is  not  in  the  little 
censure  of  Mr.  Home  to  deter  me  from  doing  signal 
justice  to  a  man,  who,  I  confess,  has  grown  upon  my 
fsteem.  As  for  the  common  sordid  views  of  avarice, 
or  any  purpose  of  vulgar  ambition,  I  question  whether 
the  applause  of  Junius  would  be  of  service  to  lord 
Chatham.  My  vote  will  hardly  recommend  him  to 
an  increase  of  his  pension,  or  to  a  seat  in  the  cabinet. 
But,  if  his  ambition  be  upon  a  level  with  his  under- 
standing, if  he  judges  of  what  is  truly  honourable 

F  2  9 


130  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

for  himself,  with  the  same  superior  genius  which  ani- 
mates and  directs  him  to  eloquence  in  debate,  to  wis- 
dom in  decision,  even  the  pen  of  Junius  shall  con- 
tribute to  reward  him.  Recorded  honours  shall  gath- 
er round  his  monument,  and  thicken  over  him.  It  is 
a  solid  fabric,  and  will  support  the  laurels  that  adorn 
it.  I  am  not  conversant  in  the  language  of  panegyric. 
These  praises  are  extorted  from  me  ;  but  they  will 
wear  well,  for  they  have  been  dearly  earned. 

My  detestation  of  the  duke  of  Grafton  is  not  found- 
ed upon  his  treachery  to  any  individual ;  though  I 
am  willing  enough  to  suppose,  that,  in  public  affairs, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  desert  or  betray  lord  Chat- 
ham, without  doing  an  essential  injury  to  this  coun- 
try. My  abhorrence  of  the  duke  arises  from  an  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  his  character,  and  from  a  thorough 
conviction  that  his  baseness  has  been  the  cause  of 
greater  mischief  to  England,  than  even  the  unfortu- 
nate ambition  of  lord  Bute. 

The  shortening  the  duration  of  parliaments  is  a 
subject  on  which  Mr.  Home  cannot  enlarge  too  warm- 
ly, nor  will  I  question  his  sincerity.  If  I  did  not 
profess  the  same  sentiments,  I  should  be  shamefully 
inconsistent  with  myself.  It  is  unnecessary  to  bind 
lord  Chatham  by  the  written  formality  of  an  engage- 
ment. He  has  publicly  declared  himself  a  convert 
to  triennial  parliaments ;  and  though  I  have  long 
been  convinced,  that  this  is  the  only  possible  resource 
we  have  left  to  preserve  the  substantial  freedom  of  the 
constitution,  I  do  not  think  we  have  a  right  to  deter- 
mine against  the  integrity  of  lord  Rockingham  or  his 
friends.     Other  measures  may  undoubtedly  be  sup- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  131 

ported  in  argument,  as  better  adapted  to  the  disorder, 
or  more  likely  to  be  obtained. 

Mr.  Home  is  well  assured  that  I  never  was  the 
champion  of  Mr.  Wilkes.  But  though  I  am  not 
obliged  to  answer  for  the  firmness  of  his  future  adhe- 
rence to  the  principles  he  professes,  I  have  no  reason 
to  prestune  that  he  will  hereafter  disgrace  them.  As 
for  all  those  imaginary  cases  which  Mr.  Home  so 
petulantly  urges  against  me,  I  have  one  plain  honest 
answer  to  make  him.  Whenever  Mr.  Wilkes  shall 
be  convicted  of  soliciting  a  pension,  an  embassy,  or 
a  government,  he  must  depart  from  that  situation, 
and  renounce  that  character,  which  he  assumes  at  pre- 
sent, and  which,  in  my  opinion,  entitles  him  to  the 
support  of  the  public.  By  the  same  act,  and  at  the 
.<ame  moment,  he  will  forfeit  his  power  of  mortifying 
the  king  :  and  though  he  can  never  be  a  favourite  at 
St.  James's,  his  baseness  may  administer  a  solid  satis- 
faction to  the  royal  mind.  The  man  I  speak  of  has 
not  a  heart  to  feel  for  the  frailties  o(  his  fellow-crea- 
tures. It  is  their  virtues  that  afflict,  it  is  their  vices 
that  console  him. 

I  give  every  possible  od vantage  to  Mr.  Home, 
when  I  take  the  facts  \w  refers  to  for  granted.  That 
they  are  the  produce  of  his  invention,  seems  highly 
probable;  that  they  are  exaggerated,  I  have  no  doubt. 
At  the  worst,  what  do  they  amount  to?  but  that  Mr. 
Wilkes  \vh*  never  was  thought  of  as  a  perfect  pattern 
of  mo**d*ty»  lias  not  been  at  all  times  proof  against 
the  extremity  of  distress.  How  shameful  is  it  in  a 
man  who  has  lived  in  friendship  with  him,  to  reproach 
him  with  failings  too  naturally  connected  with  des- 
pair ?    Is  no  allowance  to  be  made  for  banishmen 


132  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

and  ruin  ?  Does  a  two  years'  imprisonment  make 
no  atonement  for  his  crimes  ?  The  resentment  of  a 
priest  is  implacable  :  no  sufferings  can  soften,  no 
penitence  can  appease  him.  Yet  he  himself,  I  think, 
upon  his  own  system,  has  a  multitude  of  political  of- 
fences to  atone  for.  1  will  not  insist  upon  the  nause- 
ous detail  with  which  he  so  long  disgusted  the  pub- 
lic ;  he  seems  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  But  what  excuse 
will  he  make  to  the  friends  of  the  constitution,  foi 
labouring  to  promote  this  consummately  bad  man  to 
a  station  of  the  highest  national  trust  and  import- 
ance? Upon  what  honourable  motives  did  he  recom- 
mend him  to  the  livery  of  London  for  their  represen- 
tive  ;  to  the  ward  of  Farringdon  for  their  alder- 
man ;  to  the  county  of  Middlesex  for  their  knight  ? 
Will  he  affirm,  that,  at  that  time,  he  was  ignorant  of 
Mr.  Wilkes's  solicitations  to  the  ministry  ?  That  he 
should  say  so,  is,  indeed,  very  necessary  for  his  own 
justification ;  but  where  will  he  find  credulity  to  be- 
lieve him  ? 

In  what  school  this  gentleman  learned  his  ethics,  I 
know  not.  His  logic  seems  to  have  been  studied  un- 
der Mr.  Dyson.  That  miserable  pamphleteer,  divid- 
ing the  only  precedent  in  po»«t,  and  taking  as  much 
of  it  as  suited  his  purpose,  had  reduced  his  argument 
upon  the  Middlesex  election  to  something  like  the 
shape  of  a  syllogism.  Mr.  Home  has  conducted 
himself  with  the  same  ingenuity  and  candour.  I  had 
affirmed,  that  Mr.  Wilkes  would  preserve  tht  public 
favour,  "  as  long  as  he  stood  forth  against  a  mhns- 
try  and  parliament,  who  were  doing  every  thing  they 
could  to  enslave  the  country,  and  as  long  as  he  was 
a  thorn  in  the  king's  side."     Yet,  from  the  exulting 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  133 

triumph  of  Mr.  Home's  reply,  one  would  think  that 
I  had  rested  my  expectation  that  Mr.  Wilkes  would 
be  supported  by  the  public,  upon  the  single  condition 
of  his  mortifying  the  king.  This  may  be  logic  at 
Cambridge,  or  at  the  treasury  ;  but,  among  men  of 
sense  and  honour,  it  is  folly  or  villany  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

I  see  the  pitiful  advantage  he  has  taken  of  a  single 
unguarded  expression,  in  a  letter  not  intended  for  the 
public.     Yet  it  is  only  the  expression  that  is  unguard- 
ed.    I  adhere  to  the  true  meaning  of  that  member  of 
the  sentence,   taken  separately  as  he  takes  it ;  and 
now,  upon  the  coolest  deliberation,   re-assert,  that, 
for  the  purposes  I  referred  to,  it  may  be  highly  meri- 
torious to  the  public,  to  wound  the  personal  feelings 
of  the  sovereign.     It  is  not  a  general  proposition,  nor 
is  it  generally  applied  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  this, 
or  any  other  constitution.     Mr.  Home  knows,  as  well 
as  I  do,  that  the  best  of  princes  is  not  displeased  with 
the  abuse  which  he  sees  thrown  upon  his  ostensible 
ministers.     It  makes  them,  I  presume,  more  properly 
the  objects  of  his  royal  compassion.     Neither  does 
it  escape  his  sagacity,  that  the  lower  they  are  de- 
graded in  the  public  esteem,  the  more  submissively 
they   must  depend  upon   his  favour  for  protection. 
This  I  affirm,  upon  the  most  solemn  conviction,  and 
the  most  certain  knowledge,  is  a  leading  maxim  in 
the  policy  of  the  closet.     It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue 
the  argument  any  farther. 

Mr.  Home  is  now  a  very  loyal  subject.  He  laments 
the  wretched  state  of  politics  in  this  country ;  and 
sees,  in  a  new  light,  the  weakness  and  folly  of  the 
opposition.     "  Whoever,  or  whatever,  is  sovereign.. 


134  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

demands  the  respect  and  support  of  the  people  :"*  it 
was  not  so  "  when  Nero  fiddled  while  Rome  was 
burning."  Our  gracious  sovereign  has  had  wonder- 
ful success  in  creating  new  attachments  to  his  person 
and  family.  He  owes  it,  I  presume,  to  the  regular 
system  he  has  pursued  in  the  mystery  of  conversion. 
He  began  with  an  experiment  upon  the  Scotch,  and 
concludes  with  converting  Mr.  Home.  What  a  pity 
it  is,  that  the  Jews  should  be  condemned  by  Provi- 
dence to  wait  for  a  Messiah  of  their  own  ! 

The  priesthood  are  accused  of  misinterpreting  the 
Scriptures.  Mr.  Home  has  improved  upon  his  pro- 
fession. He  alters  the  text,  and  creates  a  refutable 
doctrine  of  his  own.  Such  artifices  cannot  long  de- 
lude the  understandings  of  the  people;  and,  without 
meaning  an  indecent  comparison,  I  may  venture  to 
foretell,  that  the  Bible  and  Junius  will  be  read,  when 
the  commentaries  of  the  Jesuits  are  forgotten. 

JUNIUS. 


*  The  very  soliloquy  of  lord  Suffolk  before  he  passed  the 
Rubicon. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  135 


LIV. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  August  26,  1771. 

The  enemies  of  the  people  having   now  nothing 
better  to  object  to  my  friend  Junius,  are,  at  last,  obli- 
ged to  quit  his  politics,  and  to  rail  at  him  for  crimes 
he  is  not  guilty  of.     His  vanity  and  impiety  are  now 
the  perpetual  topics  of  their  abuse.     I  do  not  mean 
to  lessen  the  force   of  such  charges,  supposing  they 
were  true,  but  to  show  that  they  are  not  founded.     If 
I  admitted  the  premises,  I  should  readily  agree  in  all 
the  consequences'  drawn  from  them.     Vanity,  indeed, 
is  a  venial  error,  for  it  usually  carries  its  own  punish- 
ment with  it ;  but  if  I  thought  Junius  capable  of  ut- 
tering a  disrespectful  word  of  the  religion  of  his  coun- 
try, I  should  be  the  first  to  renounce  and  give  him 
up  to  the  public   contempt  and  indignation.     As  a 
man,  I  am  satisfied  that  he  is  a  Christian,   upon  the 
most  sincere  conviction :  as  a  writer,  he  would  be 
grossly  inconsistent  with  his  political  principles,  if  he 
dared  to  attack  a  religion,  established  by  those  laws, 
which  it  seems  to  be  the  purpose  of  his  life  to  defend. 
Now  for  the  proofs.     Junius  is  accused  of  an  impious 
allusion  to  the  holy  sacrament,  where  he  says,  that, 
"  if  lord  Weymouth  be  denied  the  cup,  there  would 
be  no  keeping  him  within  the  pale  of  the  ministry." 
Now,  sir,  I  affirm,  that  this  passage  refers  entirely  to 
a  ceremonial  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  which 


136  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

denies  the  cup  to  the  {aity.  It  has  no  manner  of  re- 
lation to  the  protestant  creed ;  and  is  in  this  country 
as  fair  an  object  of  ridicule  as  transubstantiation,  or 
any  other  part  of  lord  Peter's  History,  in  the  Tale  of 
a  Tub. 

But  Junius  is  charged  with  equal  vanity  and  im- 
piety, in  comparing  his  writings  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. The  formal  protest  he  makes  against  any  such 
comparison  avails  him  nothing.  It  becomes  neces- 
sary then  to  show  that  the  charge  destroys  itself.  If 
he  be  vain,  he  cannot  be  impious. 

A  vain  man  does  not  usually  compare  himself  to 
an  object  which  it  is  his  design  to  undervalue.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  he  be  impious,  he  cannot  be  vain  ; 
for  his  impiety,  if  any,  must  consist  in  his  endeavour 
"nig  to  degrade  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by  a  comparison 
with  his  own  contemptible  writings.  This  would  be 
folly,  indeed,  of  the  grossest  nature  ;  but  where  lies 
the  vanity  ?  I  shall  now  be  told,  "  Sir,  what  you 
say  is  plausible  enough ;  but  still  you  must  allow, 
that  it  is  shamefully  impudent  in  Junius  to  tell  us 
that  his  works  will  live  as  long  as  the  Bible."  My 
answer  is,  Agreed:  but  first  prove  that  he  has  said  so. 
Look  at  his  words,  and  you  will  find  that  the  utmost 
he  expects  is,  that  the  Bible  and  Junius  will  survive 
the  commentaries  of  the  Jesuits;  which  may  prove 
true  in  a  fortnight.  The  most  malignant  sagacity 
cannot  show  that  his  works  are,  in  his  opinion,  to  live 
as  long  as  the  Bible.  Suppose  I  were  to  foretell,  that 
Jack  and  Tom  would  survive  Harry,  does  it  follow 
that  Jack  must  live  as  long  as  Tom  ?  I  would  only 
illustrate  my  meaning,  and  protest  against  the  least 
idea  of  profaneness- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  137 

Yet  this  is  the  way  in  which  Junius  is  usually 
answered,  arraigned,  and  convicted.  These  candid 
critics  never  remember  any  thing  he  says  in  honour 
of  our  holy  religion :  though  it  is  true  that  one  of 
his  leading  arguments  is  made  to  rest  "  upon  the  in- 
ternal evidence,  which  the  purest  of  all  religions 
carries  with  it."  I  quote  his  words ;  and  conclude 
from  them,  that  he  is  a  true  and  hearty  christian,  in 
substance,  not  in  ceremony ;  though  possibly  he  may 
not  agree  with  ray  reverend  lords  the  bishops,  or  with 
the  head  of  the  church,  "  that  prayers  are  morality, 
or  that  kneeling  is  religion." 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


LV. 


From  the  Reverend  Mr.  Home  to  Junius. 

August  17,  1771. 

I  congratulate  you,  sir,  on  the  recovery  of  your 
wonted  style,  though  it  has  cost  you  a  fortnight.  I 
compassionate  your  labour  in  the  composition  of  your 
letters,  and  will  communicate  to  you  the  secret  of  my 
fluency.  Truth  needs  no  ornament;  and  in  my 
opinion,  what  she  borrows  of  the  pencil  is  deformity. 

You  brought  a  positive  charge  against  me  of  cor- 
ruption. I  denied  the  charge,  and  called  for  your 
proofs.  You  replied  with  abuse,  and  re-asserted 
your  charge.  I  called  again  for  proofs.  You  reply 
again  with  abuse  only,  and  drop  your  accusation. 


138  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

In  your  fortnight's  letter,  there  is  not  one  word  upon 
the  subject  of  my  corruption. 

I  have  no  more  to  say,  but  to  return  thanks  to  you 
for  your  condescension,  and  to  a  grateful  public,  and 
honest  ministry,  for  all  the  favours  they  have  con- 
ferred upon  me.  The  two  latter,  I  am  sure,  will 
never  refuse  me  any  grace  I  shall  solicit :  and  since 
you  have  been  pleased  to  acknowledge,  that  you  told 
a  deliberate  lie  in  my  favour,  out  of  bounty,  and  as  a 
charitable  donation,  why  may  I  not  expect  that  you 
will  hereafter  (if  you  do  not  forget  you  ever  men- 
tioned my  name  with  disrespect)  make  the  same  ac- 
knowledgment for  what  you  have  said  to  my  preju- 
dice ?  This  second  recantation  will  perhaps,  be  more 
abhorrent  from  your  disposition  ;  but  should  you  de- 
cline it,  you  will  only  afford  one  more  instance,  how 
much  easier  it  is  to  be  generous  than  just,  and  that 
men  are  sometimes  bountiful  who  are  not  honest. 

At  all  events,  I  am  as  well  satisfied  with  panegyric 
as  lord  Chatham  can  be.  Monument  I  shall  have 
none ;  but  over  my  grave  it  will  be  said,  in  your  own 
words,  "  Home's  situation  did  not  correspond  with 
his  intentions."* 

JOHN  HORNE 


*  The  epitaph  would  not  be  ill  suited  to  the  character ; 
at  the  best  it  is  but  equivocal. 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  139 


LVI. 

To   his   Grace  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

MY  LORD,  September  28,  1771. 

The  people  of  England  are  not  apprised  of  the  full 
extent  of  their  obligations  to  you.  They  have  yet  no 
adequate  idea  of  the  endless  variety  of  your  character. 
They  have  seen  you  distinguished  and  successful  in 
the  continued  violation  of  those  moral  and  political 
duties,  by  which  the  little  as  well  as  the  great  socie- 
ties of  life  are  connected  and  held  together.  Every 
colour,  every  character  became  you.  With  a  rate  of 
abilities  which  lord  Weymouth  very  justly  looks 
down  upon  with  contempt,  you  have  done  as  much 
mischief  to  the  community  as  Cromwell  would  have 
done,  if  Cromwell  had  been  a  coward  ;  and  as  much 
as  Machiavel,  if  Machiavel  had  not  known  that  an 
appearance  of  morals  and  religion  is  useful  in  society. 
To  a  thinking  man,  the  influence  of  the  crown  will, 
in  no  view,  appear  so  formidable,  as  when  he  observes 
to  what  enormous  excesses  it  has  safely  conducted 
your  grace,  without  a  ray  of  real  understanding. 
without  even  the  pretensions  to  common  decency  or 
principle  of  any  kind,  or  a  single  spark  of  personal 
resolution.  What  must  be  the  operation  of  that  per- 
nicious influence  (for  which  our  kings  have  wisely 
exchanged  the  nugatory  name  of  prerogative)  that  in 
the  highest  stations  can  so  abundantly  supply  the  ab- 
sence of  virtue,  courage,  and  abilities,  and  qualify  a 


UO  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

man  to  be  a  minister  of  a  great  nation,  whom  a  pri- 
vate gentleman  would  be  ashamed  and  afraid  to  admit 
into  his  family  ?  Like  the  universal  passport  of  an 
ambassador,  it  supercedes  the  prohibition  of  the  laws, 
banishes  the  staple  virtues  of  the  country,  and  intro- 
duces vice  and  folly  triumphantly  into  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  state.  Other  princes,  besides  his  majesty, 
have  had  the  means  of  corruption  within  their  reach, 
but  they  have  used  it  with  moderation.  In  former 
times,  corruption  was  considered  as  a  foreign  auxil- 
iary to  government,  and  only  called  in  upon  extra- 
ordinary emergencies.  The  unfeigned  piety,  the 
sanctified  religion  of  George  the  Third,  have  taught 
him  to  new  model  the  civil  forces  of  the  state.  The 
natural  resources  of  the  crown  are  no  longer  confided 
in.  Corruption  glitters  in  the  van,  collects  and  main- 
tains a  standing  army  of  mercenaries,  and  at  the 
same  moment  impoverishes  and  enslaves  the  country. 
His  majesty's  predecessors  (excepting  that  worthy- 
family  from  which  you,  my  lord,  are  unquestionably 
descended)  had  some  generous  qualities  in  their  com- 
position, with  vices,  I  confess,  or  frailties  in  abun- 
dance. They  were  kings  or  gentlemen,  not  hypo- 
crites or  priests.  They  were  at  the  head  of  the  church, 
but  did  not  know  the  value  of  their  office.  They 
said  their  prayers  without  ceremony,  and  had  too 
little  priestcraft  in  their  understanding,  to  reconcile 
the  sanctimonious  forms  of  religion  with  the  utter  de- 
struction of  the  morality  of  their  people.  My  lord, 
this  is  fact,  not  declamation.  With  all  your  partiality 
to  the  house  of  Stuart,  you  must  confess,  that  even 
Charles  the  Second  would  have  blushed  at  that  open 
encouragement,  at  those  eager,  meretricious  caresses? 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  Hi 

with  which  every  species  of  private  vice  and  public 
prostitution  is  received  at  St.  James's.  The  unfortu- 
nate house  of  Stuart  has  been  treated  with  an  asperity 
which,  if  comparison  be  a  defence,  seems  to  border 
upon  injustice.  Neither  Charles  nor  his  brother  were 
qualified  to  support  such  a  system  of  measures  as 
would  be  neccessary  to  change  the  government  and 
subvert  the  constitution  of  England.  One  of  them 
was  too  much  in  earnest  in  his  pleasures,  the  other  in 
his  religion.  But  the  danger  to  this  country  would 
cease  to  be  problematical,  if  the  crown  should  ever 
descend  to  a  prince  whose  apparent  simplicity  might 
throw  his  subjects  off  their  guai-d,  who  might  be  no 
libertine  in  behaviour,  who  should  have  no  sense  of 
honour  to  restrain  him,  and  who,  with  just  religion 
enough  to  impose  upon  the  multitude,  might  have  no 
scruples  of  conscience  to  interfere  with  his  morality. 
With  these  honourable  qualifications,  and  the  decisive 
advantage  of  situation,  low  craft  and  falsehood  are 
all  the  abilities  that  are  wanting  to  destroy  the  wisdom 
of  ages,  and  to  deface  the  noblest  monument  that 
human  policy  has  erected.  I  know  such  a  man  ;  my 
lord,  I  know  you  both  ;  and,  with  the  blessing  of  God 
(for  I,  too,  am  religious)  the  people  of  England  shall 
know  you  as  well  as  I  do.  I  am  not  very  sure  that 
greater  abilities,  would  not,  in  effect,  be  an  impedi- 
ment to  a  design  which  seems  at  first  sight  to  require 
a  superior  capacity.  A  better  understanding  might 
make  him  sensible  of  the  wonderful  beauty  of  that 
system  he  was  endeavouring  to  corrupt ;  the  danger 
of  the  attempt  might  alarm  him  ;  the  meanness  and 
intrinsic  worthlessness  of  the  object  (supposing  he 
could  attain  it)  would  fill  him  with  shame,  repentance, 


142  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

and  disgust.  But  these  are  sensations  which  find 
no  entrance  into  a  barbarous,  contracted  heart.  In 
some  men  there  is  a  malignant  passion  to  destroy  the 
works  of  genius,  literature,  and  freedom.  The  Van- 
dal and  the  monk  find  equal  gratification  in  it. 

Reflections  like  these,  my  lord,  have  a  general 
relation  to  your  grace,  and  inseparably  attend  you, 
in  whatever  company  or  situation  your  character 
occurs  to  us.  They  have  no  immediate  connexion 
with  the  following  recent  fact,  which  I  lay  before 
the  public,  for  the  honour  of  the  best  of  sovereigns, 
and  for  the  edification  of  his  people.  A  prince 
(whose  piety  and  self-denial,  one  would  think,  might 
secure  him  trom  such  a  multitude  of  worldly  necessi- 
ties,) with  an  annual  revenue  of  near  a  million  ster- 
ling, unfortunately  wants  money.  The  navy  of  Eng- 
land, by  an  equally  strange  occurrence  of  unforseen 
circumstances,  (though  not  quite  so  unfortunately  for 
his  majesty,)  is  in  equal  want  of  timber.  The  world 
knows  in  what  a  hopeful  condition  you  delivered  the 
navy  to  your  successor,  and  in  what  a  condition  we 
found  it  in  the  moment  of  distress.  You  were  deter- 
mined it  should  continue  in  the  situation  in  which  you 
left  it.  It  happened,  however,  very  luckily  for  the 
privy  purse,  that  one  of  the  above  wants  promised  fair 
to  supply  the  other.  Our  religious,  benevolent,  gene- 
rous  sovereign  has  no  objection  to  selling  his  own  tim- 
ber to  his  own  admiralty,  to  repair  his  own  ships,  nor 
to  putting  the  money  into  his  own  pocket.  People  of 
a  religious  turn  naturally  adhere  to  the  principles  of 
the  church  ;  whatever  they  acquire  falls  into  mort- 
main. Upon  a  representation  from  the  admiralty  of 
the  extraordinary  want  of  timber  for  the  indispensable 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  U3 

repairs  of  the  navy,  the  surveyor-general  was  direct- 
ed to  make  a  survey  of  the  timber  in  all  the  royal 
chases  and  forests  in  England.  Having  obeyed  his 
orders  with  accuracy  and  attention,  he  reported  that 
the  finest  timber  he  had  any  where  met  with,  and  the 
properest,  in  every  respect,  for  the  purposes  of  the 
navy,  was  in  Whittlebury  Forest,  of  which  your 
grace,  I  think,  is  hereditary  ranger.  In  consequence 
of  this  report,  the  usual  warrant  was  prepared  at  the 
treasury,  and  delivered  to  the  surveyor,  by  which  he, 
or  his  deputy,  were  authorised  to  cut  down  any  trees 
in  Whittlebury  Forest,  which  should  appear  to  be 
proper  for  the  purposes  above-mentioned.  The 
deputy  being  iuformed  that  the  warrant  was  signed, 
and  delivered  to  his  principal  in  London,  crosses  the 
country  to  Northamptonshire,  and,  with  an  officious 
zeal  for  the  public  service,  begins  to  do  his  duty  in 
the  forest.  Unfortunately  for  him,  he  had  not  the 
warrant  in  his  pocket.  The  oversight  was  enormous  j 
and  you  have  punished  him  for  it  accordingly.  You 
have  insisted,  that  an  active,  useful  officer  should  be 
dismissed  from  his  place.  You  have  ruined  an  inno- 
cent man  and  his  family.  In  what  language  shall  I 
address  so  black,  so  cowardly  a  tyrant  ?  Thou 
worse  than  one  of  the  Brunswicks,  and  all  the  Stuarts ! 
To  them  who  know  lord  North,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
say,  that  he  was  mean  and  base  enough  to  submit  to 
you.  This,  however,  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  facf. 
After  ruining  the  surveyor's  deputy,  for  acting  without 
the  warrant,  you  attacked  the  warrant  itself.  You 
declared  that  it  was  illegal  ;  and  swore,  in  a  fit  of 
foaming  frantic  passion,  that  it  never  should  be  exe- 
cuted.    You  asserted,  upon  your  honour,  that  in  the 


H4  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

grant  of  the  rangership  of  Whittlebury  Forest,  made 
by  Charles  the  Second  (whom  with  a  modesty  that 
would  do  honour  to  Mr.  Rigby,  you  are  pleased  to 
call  your  ancestor)  to  one  of  his  bastards,  (from 
whom  I  make  no  doubt  of  your  descent,)  the  property 
of  the  timber  is  vested  in  the  ranger.  I  have  ex- 
amined the  original  grant ;  and  now,  in  the  face  of 
the  public,  contradict  you  directly  upon  the  fact. 
The  very  reverse  of  what  you  have  asserted  upon 
your  honour  is  the  truth.  The  grant,  expressly,  and 
by  a  particular  clause,  reserves  the  property  of  the 
timber  for  the  use  of  the  crown.  In  spite  of  this 
evidence,  in  defiance  of  the  representations  of  the 
admiralty,  in  perfect  mockery  of  the  notorious  dis- 
tresses of  the  English  navy,  and  those  equally  press- 
ing and  almost  equally  notorious  necessities  of  your 
pious  sovereign,  here  the  matter  rests.  The  lords 
of  the  treasury,  recall  their  warrant;  the  deputy  sur- 
veyor is  ruined  for  doing  his  duty ;  Mr.  John  Pitt 
(whose  name,  I  suppose,  is  offensive  to  you)  sub- 
mits to  be  brow-beaten  and  insulted ;  the  oaks  keep 
their  ground  ;  the  king  is  defrauded  ;  and  the  navy 
of  England  may  perish  for  want  of  the  best  and 
finest  timber  in  the  island.  And  all  this  is  submit- 
ted to,  to  appease  the  duke  of  Grafton  !  to  gratify 

the  man  who  has  involved  the  king  and  his  king- 
dom in  confusion  and   distress  ;    and   who,   like  a 

treacherous   coward,    deserted   his  sovereign  in  the 
midst  of  it ! 

There  has  been  a  strange  alteration  in  your  doc- 
trines, since  you  thought  it  advisable  to  rob  the  duke 
of  Portland  of  his  property,  in  order  to  strengthen 
the  interest  of  ir>rd  Bute's  son-in-law  before  the  last 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  14$ 

general   election.     Ntillum  tempus  occurrit  regi  was 
then  your  boasted  motto,   and  the  cry  of  all  your 
hungry  partizans.     Now  it  seems  a  grant  of  Charles 
the  Second  to  one  of  his  bastards  is  to  be  held  sa- 
cred and  inviolable  !     It  must  not  be  questioned  by 
the  king's  servants,  nor  submitted  to  any  interpreta- 
tion but  your  own.     My  lord,  this  was  not  the  lan- 
guage you    held,    when  it  suited  you  to  insult  the 
memory  of  the  glorious  deliverer  of  England  from 
that  detested   family,    to  which  you  are   still   more 
nearly  allied  in  principle  than  in  blood.     In  the  name 
of  decency  and  common  sense,  what  are  your  grace's 
merits,  either  with  king  or  ministry,  that  should  en- 
title you  to  assume  this  domineering  authority  over 
both  ?     Is  it  the  fortunate  consanguinity  you  claim 
with  the  house  of  Stuart  ?     Is  it  the  secret  corres- 
pondence you  have  so  many  }rears  carried  on  with 
lord  Bute,  by  the  assiduous  assistance  of  your  cream- 
coloured  parasite  %     Could  not  your  gallantry  find 
sufficient  employment  for  him  in  those  gentle  offices 
by  which  he  first  acquired  the  tender  friendship  of 
lord  Barrington  ?     Or  is  it  only  that  wonderful  sym- 
pathy of  manners  which  subsists  between  your  grace 
and  one  of  your  superiors,  and  does  so  much  honour 
to   you   both  ?     Is  the  union    of  Jiliftl  and  Black 
George  no  longer  a  romance  ?     From  whatever  ori- 
gin your  influence  in  this  country  arises,  it  is  a  phe- 
nomenon in  the  history  of  human  virtue  and  under- 
standing.    Good  men  can  hardly  believe  the  fact  ; 
wise  men  are  unable  to  account  for  it ;  religious  m^ 
find  exercise  for  their  faith,  and   make  it  the  last  ef- 
fort of  their  piety  not  to  repine  against  Providence. 

JUNIUS. 
vol.  ii.  G  10 


146  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS 


LVII. 

Addressed  to  the  Livery  of  London 

GENTLEMEN,  September  30,  1771. 

If  you  alone  were  concerned  in  the  event  of  the 
present  election  of  a  chief  magistrate  of  the  metropo- 
lis, it  would  be  the  highest  presumption  in  a  stranger 
to  attempt  to  influence  your  choice,  or  even  to  offer 
you  his  opinion.  But  the  situation  of  public  affairs 
has  annexed  an  extraordinary  importance  to  your 
resolutions.  You  cannot,  in  the  choice  of  your  ma- 
gistrate, determine  for  j'ourselves  only.  You  are  go- 
ing to  determine  upon  a  point,  in  which  every  mem- 
ber of  the  community  is  interested.  I  will  not  scruple 
to  say,  that  the  very  being  of  that  law,  of  that  right, 
of  that  constitution,  for  which  we  have  been  so  long 
contending,  is  now  at  stake.  They  who  would  en- 
snare your  judgment  tell  you,  it  is  a  common  ordi- 
nary case,  and  to  be  decided  by  ordinary  precedent 
and  practice.  They  artfully  conclude,  from  mode- 
rate peaceable  times,  to  times  which  are  Hot  mode- 
rate, and  which  ought  not  to  be  peaceable.  While 
they  solicit  your  favour,  they  insist  upon  a  rule  of 
l'Otation,  which  excludes  all  idea  of  election. 

Let  me  be  honoured  with  a  few  minutes  of  your 
attention.  The  question,  to  those  who  mean  fairly 
to  the  liberty  of  the  people  (which  we  all  profess  to 
have  in  view,)  lies  within  a  very  narrow  compass. 
Do  you  mean  to  desert  that  just  and  honourable  sys- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  147 

tern  of  measures  which  you  have  hitherto  pursued,  in 
hopes  of  obtaining  from  parliament,  or  from  the  crown, 
a  full  redress  of  past  grievances,  and  a  security  for 
the  future  ?  Do  you  think  the  cause  desperate,  and 
will  you  declare  that  you  think  so  to  the  whole  peo- 
ple of  England?  If  this  be  your  meaning  and 
opinion,  you  will  act  consistently  with  it  in  choosing 
Mr.  Nash.  I  profess  to  be  unacquainted  with  his 
private  character;  but  he  has  acted  as  a  magistrate, 
as  a  public  man.  As  such  I  speak  of  him.  I  see  his 
name  in  a  protest  against  one  of  your  remonstrances 
to  the  crown.  He  has  done  every  thing  in  his  power 
to  destroy  the  freedom  of  popular  elections  in  the 
city,  by  publishing  the  poll  upon  a  former  occasion  •> 
and  I  know,  in  general,  that  he  has  distinguished 
himself,  by  slighting  and  thwarting  all  those  public- 
measures  which  you  have  engaged  in  with  the  great- 
est warmth,  and  hitherto  thought  most  worthy  of  your 
approbation.  From  his  past  conduct,  what  conclu- 
sion will  you  draw  but  that  he  will  act  the  same  part 
as  lord  mayor,  which  he  has  invariably  acted  as  alder- 
man and  sheriff  f  He  cannot  alter  his  conduct  with- 
out confessing  that  he  never  acted  upon  principle  of 
any  kind.  I  should  be  sorry  to  injure  the  character 
of  a  man,  who,  perhaps,  may  be  honest  in  his  inten- 
tion, by  supposing  it  possible  that  he  can  ever  concur 
with  you  in  any  political  measure  or  opinion. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  mean  to  persevere  in 
those  resolutions  for  the  public  good,  which,  though 
not  always  successful,  are  always  ho-iourable,  your 
choice  will  naturally  incline  to  those  men  who  (what- 
ever they  be  in  other  respects)  are  most  likely  to  co- 
operate with  you  in  the  great  purpose  which  you  are 


148  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

determined  not  to  relinquish.  The  question  is  not  o; 
what  metal  your  instruments  are  made,  but  ivhether 
they  are  adapted  to  the  work  you  have  in  hand.  The 
honours  of  the  city,  in  these  times,  are  improperly, 
because  exclusively,  called  a  reward.  You  mean  not 
merely  to  pay,  but  to  employ.  Are  Mr.  Crosby  and 
Mr.  Sawbridge  likely  to  execute  the  extraordinary, 
as  well  as  the  ordinary,  duties  of  lord  mayor?  Wit! 
they  grant  you  common-halls  when  it  shall  be  neces- 
sary ?  Will  they  go  up  with  remonstrances  to  the 
king  ?  Have  they  firmness  enough  to  meet  the  fury 
of  a  venal  house  of  commons  ?  Have  they  fortitude 
enough  not  to  shrink  at  imprisonment  ?  Have  they 
spirit  enough  to  hazard  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  a 
contest,  if  it  should  be  necessary,  with  a  prostituted 
legislature  f  If  these  questions  can  fairly  be  answer- 
ed in  the  affirmative,  your  choice  is  made.  Forgive 
this  passionate  language.  I  am  unable  to  correct  it. 
The  subject  comes  home  to  us  all.  It  is  the  language 
of  my  heart. 

JUNIUS. 


LVIII. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR*  October  5,  1771. 

No  man  laments  more  sincerely  than  I  do,  th* 
unhappy  differences  which  have  arisen  among  the 
friends  of  the  people,  and  divided  them  from  each 
other.     The  cause,  undoubtedly,  suffers  as  well  \>y 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  149 

the  diminution  of  that  strength  which  union  carries 
along  with  it,  as  by  the  separate  loss  of  personal  re- 
putation, which  every  man  sustains  when  his  charac- 
ter and  conduct  are  frequently  held  forth  in  odious  or 
contemptible  colours.     These  differences   are  only 
advantageous  to  the  common  enemy  of  the  country. 
The  hearty  friends  of  the  cause  are  provoked  and 
disgusted.     The  lukewarm  advocate  avails  himself 
of  any  pretence,  to  relapse  into  that  indolent  indiffe- 
rence about  every   thing  that  ought  to  interest  an 
Englishman,   so  unjustly  dignified  with  the  title  of 
moderation.     The  false,  insidious  partizan,  who  cre- 
ates or  foments  the  disorder,  sees  the  fruit  of  his  dis- 
honest industry  ripen  beyond  his  hopes,  and  rejoices 
in  the  promise  of  a  banquet,  only  delicious  to  such  an 
appetite  as  his  own.     It  is  time  for  those  who  really 
mean  the   Cause  and  the  People,  who  have  no  view 
to  private  advantage,  and  who  have  virtue  enough  to 
prefer  the  general  good  of  the  community  to  the  gra- 
tification of  personal  animosities;  it  is  time  for  such 
men  to  interpose.     Let  us   try  whether  these  fatal 
dissensions  may  not  yet  be  reconciled  ;  or,  if  that  be 
impracticable,  let  us  guard  at  leasf  against  the  worst 
effects  of  division,  and  endeavour  to  persuade  these 
furious  partizans,  if  they  will  not  consent  to  draw  to- 
gether,  to  be  separately  useful   to   that  cause  which 
they   all   pretend   to  be   attached  to.     Honour  and 
honesty  must  not  be  renounced,  although  a  thousand 
modes  of  right  and  wrong  were  to  occupy  the  degrees 
of  morality  between  Zeno  and  Epicurus.     The  fun- 
damental principles  of  Christianity  may  still  be  pre- 
served, though  every  zealous  sectary  adheres  to  his 
own  exclusive  doctrine,  and  pious  ecclesiastics  make 


150  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it  part  of  their  religion   to  persecute  one  another". 

The  civil  constitution,  too,  that  legal   liberty,  that 

general   creed    which    every   Englishman   professes, 

may  still  be  supported,  though  Wilkes  and  Home, 

and  Townshend  and  Sawbridge,  should  obstinately 

refuse  to  communicate  ;  and  even  if  the  fathers  of  the 

church,  if  Savile,  Richmond,  Camden,  Rockingham, 

and  Chatham,  should  disagree  in  the  ceremonies  of 

their  political  worship,  and  even  in  the  interpretation 

of  twenty  texts   in  Magna  Charta.     I  speak  to  the 

people,  as  one  of  the  people.     Let  us  employ  these 

men  in  whatever  departments  their  various  abilities 

are  best  suited  to,  and  as  much  to  the  advantage  of 

the  common  cause,  as  their  different  inclinations  will 

permit.     They  cannot  serve  us  without  essentially 

serving  themselves. 

If  Mr.  Nash  be  elected,  he  will  hardly  venture, 
after  so  recent  a  mark  of  the  personal  esteem  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  to  declare  himself  immediately  a  cour- 
tier. The  spirit  and  activity  of  the  sheriffs  will,  I 
hope,  be  sufficient  to  counteract  any  sinister  intentions 
of  the  lord  mayor.  In  collision  with  their  virtue, 
perhaps,  he  may  take  fire. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  exact  from  Mr.  Wilkes  the 
virtues  of  a  Stoic.  They  were  inconsistent  with  them- 
selves, who,  almost  at  the  same  moment,  represented 
him  as  the  basest  of  mankind,  yet  seemed  to  expect 
from  him  such  instances  of  fortitude  and  self-denial, 
as  would  do  honour  to  an  apostle.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, flattery  to  say,  that  he  is  obstinate,  intrepid,  and 
fertile  in  expedients.  That  he  has  no  possible  re- 
source but  in  the  public  favour,  is,  in  my  judgment, 
a  considerable  recommendation  of  him.     I  wish  that 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  n 

every  man  who  pretended  to  popularity  were  in  the 
same  predicament.  I  wish  that  a  retreat  to  St. 
James's  were  not  so  easy  and  open  as  patriots  have 
found  it.  To  Mr.  Wilkes  there  is  no  access.  How- 
ever he  may  be  misled  by  passion  or  imprudence,  I 
think  he  cannot  be  guilty  of  a  deliberate  treachery  to 
the  public.  The  favour  of  his  country  constitutes 
the  shield  which  defends  him  against  a  thousand 
daggers.     Desertion  would  disarm  him. 

I  can  more  readily  admire  the  liberal  spirit  and 
integrity,  than  the  sound  judgment,  of  any  man  who 
prefers  a  republican  form  of  government,  in  this  o£* 
any  other  empire  of  equal  extent,  to  a  monarchy  so 
qualified  and  limited  as  ours.  I  am  convinced,  that 
neither  is  it  in  theory  the  wisest  system  of  govern- 
ment, nor  practicable  in  this  country.  Yet,  though 
I  hope  the  English  constitution  will  for  ever  preserve 
jts  original  monarchical  form,  I  would  have  the  man- 
ners of  the  people  purely  and  strictly  republican.  I 
do  not  mean  the  licentious  spirit  of  anarchy  and  riot. 
I  mean  a  general  attachment  to  the  commonweal, 
distinct  from  any  partial  attachment  to  persons  or 
families  ;  an  implicit  submission  to  the  laws  only ; 
aud  an  affection  to  the  magistrate,  proportioned  to 
the  integrity  and  wisdom  with  which  he  distributes 
justice  to  his  people,  and  administers  their  affairs. 
The  present  habit  of  our  political  body  appears  to 
me  the  very  reverse  of  what  it  ought  to  be.  The 
form  of  the  constitution  leans  rather  more  than  enough 
to  the  popular  branch  ;  while,  in  effect,  the  manners 
of  the  people  (of  those  at  least  who  are  likely  to  take 
a  lead  in  the  country)  incline  too  generally  to  a  de- 
pendence upon  the  crown.     The  real  friends  of  arbi- 


152  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

trary  power  combine  the  facts,  and  are  not  inconsis- 
tent with  their  principles,  when  they  strenuously 
support  the  unwarrantable  privileges  assumed  by  the 
house  of  commons.  In  these  circumstances,  it  were 
much  to  be  desired,  that  we  had  many  such  men  as 
Mr.  Sawbridge  to  represent  us  in  parliament.  I 
speak  from  common  report  and  opinion  only,  when! 
impute  to  him  a  speculative  predilection  in  favour  of 
a  republic.  In  the  personal  conduct  and  manners  of 
the  man  I  cannot  be  mistaken.  He  has  shown  him- 
self possessed  of  that  republican  firmness  which  the 
times  require  ;  and  by  which  an  English  gentleman 
may  be  as  usefully  and  as  honourably  distinguished, 
as  any  citizen  of  ancient  Rome,  of  Athens,  or  Lace- 
demon. 

Mr.  Townshend  complains  that  the  public  gratitude 
has  not  been  answerable  to  his  deserts.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  trace  the  artifices  which  have  suggested 
to  him  a  language  so  unworthy  of  his  understanding. 
A.  great  man  commands  the  affections  of  the  people  : 
a  prudent  man  does  not  complain  when  he  has  lost, 
them.  Yet  they  are  far  from  being  lost  to  Mr.  Town- 
shend. He  has  treated  our  opinion  a  little  too  cava- 
lierly. A  young  man  is  apt  to  rely  too  confidently 
upon  himself,  to  be  as  attentive  to  his  mistress  as  a 
polite  and  passionate  lover  ought  to  be.  Perhaps  he 
found  her  at  first  too  easy  a  conquest.  Yet  I  fancy 
she  will  be  ready  to  receive  him  whenever  he  thinks 
proper  to  renew  his  addresses.  With  all  his  youth, 
his  spirit,  and  his  appearance,  it  would  be  indecent  in 
the  lady  to  solicit  his  return. 

I  have  too  much  respect  for  the  abilities  of  Mr. 
Home,  to  flatter  myself  that  these  gentlemen  will  eves- 


JUNIUS^   LETTERS.  153 

be  cordially  re-united.  It  is  not,  however,  unreason- 
able to  expect,  that  each  of  them  should  act  his  sepa- 
rate part  with  honour  and  integrity  to  the  public.  As 
for  differences  of  opinion  upon  speculative  questions, 
if  we  wait  until  they  are  reconciled,  the  action  of  hu- 
uum  affairs  must  be  suspended  for  ever.  But  neither 
are  we  to  look  for  perfection  in  any  one  man,  nor  for 
agreement  among  many.  When  lord  Chatham  af- 
firms, that  the  authority  of  the  British  legislature  is 
not  supreme  over  the  colonies  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  it  is  supreme  over  Great  Britain ;  when  lord 
v'amden  supposes  a  necessity  (which  the  king  is  to 
judge  of,)  and,  founded  upon  that  necessity,  attributes 
io  the  crown  a  legal  power  (not  given  by  the  act  it- 
iclf,)  to  suspend  the  operation  of  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature; I  listen  to  them  both  with  diffidence  and  res- 
pect, but  without  the  smallest  degree  of  conviction  or 
assent.  Yet  I  doubt  not  they  delivered  their  real 
sentiments,  nor  ought  they  to  be  hastily  condemned. 
I  too  have  a  claim  to  thq  candid  interpretation  of  my 
country,  when  I  acknowledge  an  involuntary,  com- 
pulsive assent  to  one  very  uupopular  opinion.  I 
lament  the  unhappy  necessity,  whenever  it  arises,  of 
providing  for  the  safety  of  the  state  by  a  temporary 
Invasion  of  the  personal  liberty  of  the  subject  Would 
to  God  it  were  practicable  to  reconcile  these  impor- 
tant objects,  in  every  possible  situation  of  public 
affairs!  I  regard  the  legal  liberty  of  the  meanest 
man  in  Britain  as  much  as  my  own,  and  would  defend 
it  with  the  same  zeal.  I  know  we  must  stand  or  fall 
together.  But  I  never  can  doubt,  that  the  community 
has  a  right  to  command,  as  well  as  to  purchase,  the 

vice  of  its  members.     I  see  that  right  founded  ori- 

G  2 


154  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

ginally  upon  a  necessity  which  supersedes  all  argu- 
ment :  I  see  it  established  by  usage  immemorial,  and 
admitted  by  more  than  a  tacit  assent  of  the  legislature. 
I  conclude  there  is  no  remedy,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
for  the  grievance  complained  of;  for,  if  there  were, 
it  must  long  since  have  been  redressed.  Though 
numberless  opportunities  have  presented  themselves^ 
highly  favourable  to  public  liberty,  no  successful  at- 
tempt has  ever  been  made  for  the  relief  of  the  subject 
in  this  article.  Yet  it  has  been  felt  and  complained 
of  ever  since  England  had  a  navy.  The  conditions 
which  constitute  this  right  must  be  taken  together  ; 
separately,  they  have  little  weight.  It  is  not  fair  to 
argue,  from  any  abuse  in  the  execution,  to  the  ilh>- 
gality  of  the  power  ;  much  less  is  a  conclusion  to  be 
drawn  from  the  navy  to  the  land  service.  A  seaman 
can  never  be  employed  but  against  the  enemies  of  his 
country.  The  only  case  in  which  the  king  can  have 
a  right  to  arm  his  subjects  in  general,  is  that  of  a 
foreign  force  being  actually  landed  upon  our  coast. 
Whenever  that  case  happens,  no  true  Englishman  will 
inquire  whether  the  king's  right  to  compel  him  to  de- 
fend his  country  be  the  custom  of  England,  or  a  grant 
of  the  legislature.  With  regard  to  the  press  for  sea- 
men, it  does  not  follow  that  the  symptoms  may  not  be 
softened,  although  the  distemper  cannot  be  cured. 
Let  bounties  be  increased  as  far  as  the  public  purse 
can  support  them.  Still  they  have  a  limit ;  and  when 
every  reasonable  expense  is  incurred,  it  will  be  found, 
in  fact,  that  the  spur  of  the  press  is  wanted  to  give 
operation  to  the  bounty. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  never  had  a  doubt  about  the  strict 
vight  of  pressing,  until  I  heard  that  lord  Mansfield 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  155 

had  applauded  lord  Chatham  for  delivering  some- 
thing like  this  doctrine  in  the  house  of  lords.  That 
consideration  staggered  me  not  a  little.  But,  upon 
reflection,  his  conduct  accounts  naturally  for  itself. 
He  knew  the  doctrine  was  unpopular,  and  was 
eager  to  fix  it  upon  the  man  who  is  the  first  object  of 
his  fear  and  detestation.-  The  cunning  Scotchman 
never  speaks  truth  without  a  fraudulent  design.  In 
council,  he  generally  affects  to  take  a  moderate  part. 
Besides  his  natural  timidity,  it  makes  part  of  his  poli- 
tical plan,  never  to  be  known  to  recommend  violent 
measures.  When  the  guards  are  called  forth  to  mur- 
der their  fellow  subjects,  it  is  not  by  the  ostensible 
advice  of  lord  Mansfield.  That  odious  office,  his 
prudence  tells  him,  is  better  left  to  such  men  as  Gow- 
er  and  Weymouth,  as  Barrington  and  Grafton.  Lord 
Hillsborough  wisely  confines  his  firmness  to  the  dis- 
tant Americans.  The  designs  of  Mansfield  are  more 
subtle,  more  effectual,  and  secure.  Who  attacks  the 
liberty  of  the  press  ?  Lord  Mansfield.  Who  invades 
the  constitutional  power  of  juries  ?  Lord  Mansfield. 
What  judge  ever  challenged  a  juryman  but  lord 
Mansfield  .?  Who  was  that  judge,  who,  to  save  the 
king's  brother,  affirmed  that  a  man  of  the  first  rank 
and  quality,  who  obtains  a  verdict  in  a  suit  for  crimi- 
nal conversation,  is  entitled  to  no  greater  damages 
than  the  meanest  mechanic  $  Lord  Mansfield.  Who 
is  it  makes  commissioners  of  the  great  seal  ?  Lord 
Mansfield.  Who  is  it  that  forms  a  decree  for  those 
commissioners,  deciding  against  lord  Chatham,  and 
afterwards  (finding  himself  opposed  by  the  judges) 
declares,  in  parliament,  that  he  never  had  a  doubt 
that  the  law  was  in  direct  opposition  to  that  decree  ? 


156  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

Lord  Mansfield.  Who  is  he  that  has  made  it  the 
itudy  and  practice  of  his  life  to  undermine  and  alter 
the  whole  system  of  jurisprudence  in  the  court  of 
king's  bench?  Lord  Mansfield.  There  never  ex- 
isted a  man  but  himself  who  answered  exactly  to  so 
complicated  a  description.  Compared  to  ttrese  enor- 
mities, his  original  attachment  to  the  Pretender  (to 
whom  his  dearest  brother  was  confidential  secretary) 
is  a  virtue  of  the  first  magnitude.  But  the  hour  of 
impeachment  will  come,  and  neither  he  nor  Grafton 
shall  escape  me.  Now  let  them  make  common 
cause  against  England  and  the  house  of  Hanover* 
A  Stuart  and  a  Murray  should  sympathise  with  each 
other. 

When  I  refer  to  signal  instances  of  unpopular  opin- 
ions, delivered  and  maintained  by  men,  who  may  well 
he  supposed  to  have  no  view  but  the  public  good,  I 
do  not  mean  to  renew  the  discussion  of  such  opinions'. 
!  should  be  sorry  to  revive  the  dormant  questions  of 
Stamp  Act,  Corn  Bill,  or  Press  Warrant.  I  mean 
only  to  illustrate  one  useful  proposition,  which  it  is 
the  intention  of  this  paper  to  inculcate,  "  That  we 
should  not  generally  reject  the  friendship  or  services 
of  any  man,  because  he  differs  from  us  in  a  particu- 
lar opinion."  This  will  not  appear  a  superfluous 
caution,  if  we  observe  the  ordinary  conduct  of  man- 
kind.  In  public  affairs,  there  is  the  least  chance  of  a 
perfect  concurrence  of  sentiment  or  inclination  :  yet 
every  man  is  able  to  contribute  something  to  the 
common  stock,  and  no  man's  contribution  should  be 
rejected.  If  individuals  have  no  virtues,  their  vices 
may  be  of  use  to  us.  I  care  not  with  what  principle 
the  new-born  patriot  is  animated,  if  the  measures  he 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  15? 

supports  are  beneficial  to  the  community.  The  na- 
tion is  interested  in  his  conduct.  His  motives  are 
his  own.  The  properties  of  a  patriot  are  perishable 
in  the  individual ;  but  there  is  a  quick  succession  of 
subjects,  and  the  breed  is  worth  preserving.  The 
spirit  of  the  Americans  may  be  an  useful  example  to 
lis.  Our  dogs  and  horses  are  only  English  upon 
English  ground ;  but  patriotism,  it  seems,  may  be 
improved  by  transplanting.  I  will  not  reject  a  biii 
which  tends  to  confine  parliamentary  privilege  with- 
in reasonable  bounds,  though  it  should  be  stolen  from 
the  house  of  Cavendish,  and  introduced  by  Mr.  On- 
slow. The  features  of  the  infant  are  a  proof  of  the 
descent,  and  vindicate  the  noble  birth  from  the  base- 
ness of  the  adoption.  I  willingly  accept  of  a  sarcasm 
from  colonel  Barrc,  or  a  simile  from  Mr.  Burke. 
Even  tlie  silent  vote  of  Mr.  Calcraft  is  worth  reckon- 
ing in  a  division.  What  though  he  riots  in  the  plun- 
der of  the  army,  and  has  only  determined  to  be  a 
patriot  when  he  could  not  be  a  peer  ?  Let  us  profit 
by  the  assistance  of  such  men  while  they  are  with  us. 
and  place  them,  if  it  be  possible,  in  the  post  of  dan- 
ger, to  prevent  desertion.  The  wary  Wedderburne, 
the  pompous  Suffolk,  never  threw  away  the  scabbard, 
nor  ever  went  upon  a  forlorn  hope.  They  always 
treated  the  king's  servants  as  men  with  whom,  some 
time  or  other,  they  might  probably  be  in  friendship. 
When  a  man,  who  stands  forth  for  the  public,  has 
gone  that  length  from  which  there  is  no  practicable 
retreat,  when  he  has  given  that  kind  of  personal  of- 
fence, whieh  a  pious  monarch  never  pardons,  I  then 
begin  to  think  him  in  earnest,  and  that  he  will  never 
have  occasion  to  solicit  the  forgneness  of  his  country. 


158  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

But  instances  of  a  determination  so  entire  and  unre- 
served are  rarely  met  with.  Let  us  take  mankind  as 
they  are  ;  let  us  distribute  the  virtues  and  abilities  ot 
individuals  according  to  the  offices  they  affect;  and, 
when  they  quit  the  service,  let  us  endeavour  to  sup- 
ply their  places  with  better  men  than  we  have  lost. 
In  this  country  there  are  always  candidates  enough 
for  popular  favour.  The  temple  of  fame  is  the  short- 
est passage  to  riches  and  preferment. 

Above  all  things,  let  me  guard  my  countrymen 
against  the  meanness  and  folly  of  accepting  of  a  tri- 
fling or  moderate  compensation  for  extraordinary  and 
essential  injuries.  Our  enemy  treats  us  as  the  cun- 
ning trader  does  the  unskilful  Indian ;  they  magnify 
their  generosity,  when  they  give  us  baubles  of  little 
proportionate  value  for  ivory  and  gold.  The  same 
house  of  commons,  who  robbed  the  constituent  body 
of  their  right  of  free  election;  who  presume  to  make 
a  law,  under  pretence  of  declaring  it ;  who  paid  our 
good  king's  debts,  without  once  inquiring  how  they 
were  incurred ;  who  gave  thanks  for  repeated  mur- 
ders committed  at  home,  and  for  national  infamy  in- 
curred abroad  ;  who  screened  lord  Mansfield ;  who 
imprisoned  the  magistrates  of  the  metropolis  for  as- 
serting the  subject's  right  to  the  protection  of  the 
laws;  who  erased  a  judicial  record,  and  ordered  all 
proceedings  in  a  criminal  suit  to  be  suspended  :  this 
very  house  of  commons  have  graciously  consented 
that  their  own  members  may  be  compelled  to  pay  their 
debts,  and  that  contested  elections  shall,  for  the  future, 
he  determined  with  some  decent  regard  to  the  merits 
of  the  case.  The  event  of  the  suit  is  of  no  conse- 
quence to  the  crown.     While  parliaments  are  septen- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  159 

uialj  the  purchase  of  the  sitting  member,  or  of  the 
petitioner,  makes  but  the  difference  of  a  day.  Con- 
cessions such  as  these  are  of  little  moment  to  the 
sum  of  things ;  unless  it  be  to  prove  that  the  worst 
of  men  are  sensible  of  the  injuries  they  have  done  us, 
and  perhaps  to  demonstrate  to  us  the  imminent  dan- 
ger of  our  situation.  In  the  shipwreck  of  the  state, 
trifles  float,  and  are  preserved  ;  while  every  thing 
solid  and  valuable  sinks  to  the  bottom,  and  is  lost 
tbr  ever. 

JUNIUS. 


LIX. 

To  the  Pinter  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

SIR,  October  15,  1771. 

I  am  convinced  that  Junius  is  incapable  of  wilfully 
misrepresenting  any  man's  opinion,  and  that  his  incli- 
nation leads  him  to  treat  lord  Camden  with  particu- 
lar candour  and  respect.  The  doctrine  attributed 
to  him  by  Junius,  as  far  as  it  goes,  corresponds  with 
that  stated  by  your  correspondent  Scsevola,  who 
seems  to  make  a  distinction  without  a  difference, 
^ord  Camden,  it  is  agreed,  did  certainly  maintain, 
that,  in  the  recess  of  parliament,  the  king  (by  whiclv 
we  all  mean  the  king  in  council,  or  the  executive 
power)  might  suspend  the  operation  of  an  act  of  the 
legislature;  and  he  founded  his  doctrine  upon  a  sup- 
posed necessity,  of  which  the  king,  in  the  first  instance. 
must  be  judge.     The  lords  and  commons  cannot  be 


160  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

judges  of  it  in  the  first  instance,  for  they  do  not  exist. 
Thus  far  Junius. 

But,  says  Scaevola,  lord  Camden  made  parliament, 
and  not  the  king,  judges  of  the  necessity.  That  par- 
liament may  review  the  acts  of  ministers,  is  unques- 
tionable ;  but  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  say- 
ing, that  the  crown  has  a  legal  power,  and  that  the 
ministers  may  act  at  their  peril.  When  we  say  that 
an  act  is  illegal,  we  mean  that  it  is  forbidden  by  a 
joint  resolution  of  the  three  estates.  How  a  subse- 
quent resolution  of  two  of  those  branches  can  make 
it  legal,  ah  initio,  will  require  explanation.  If  it 
could,  the  consequence  would  be  truly  dreadful,  es- 
pecially in  these  times.  There  is  no  act  of  arbitral'}' 
power  which  the  king  might  not  attribute  to  necessity, 
and  for  which  he  would  not  be  secure  of  obtaining 
the  approbation  of  his  prostituted  lords  and  commons. 
If  lord  Camden  admits,  that  the  subsequent  sanction 
of  parliament  was  necessary  to  make  the  proclama- 
tion legal,  why  did  he  so  obstinately  oppose  the  bill, 
which  was  soon  after  brought  in,  for  indemnifying  alK 
1hose  persons  who  had  acted  under  it?  If  that  bill 
had  not  been  passed,  I  am  ready  to  maintain,  in 
direct  contradiction  to  lord  Camden's  doctrine,  (taken 
as  Scaevola  states  it)  that  a  litigious  exporter  of  corn, 
who  had  suffered  in  his  property,  in  consequence  of 
the  proclamation,  might  have  laid  his  action  against 
the  custom-house  officers,  and  would  infallibly  have 
recovered  damages.  No  jury  could  refuse  them  : 
and  if  I,  who  am  by  no  means  litigious,  had  been  so 
injured,  I  would  assuredly  have  instituted  a  suit  in 
Westminster-hall,  on  purpose  to  try  the  question  of 
right.    I  would  have  done  it  upon  a  principle  of  de- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  161 

fiance  of  the  pretended  power  of  cither  or  both  houses 
to  make  declarations  inconsistent  with  law;  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that,  with  an  act  of  parliament  on  my 
side,  I  should  have  been  too  strong  for  them  all.  This 
is  the  way  in  which  an  Englishman  should  speak  and 
act,  and  not  suffer  dangerous  precedents  to  be  estab- 
lished, because  the  circumstances  are  favourable  or 
palliating. 

With  regard  to  lord  Camden,  the  truth  is,  that  he 
inadvertently  overshot  himself,  as  appears  plainly  by 
that  unguarded  mention  of  a  tyranny  of  forty  days, 
which  I  myself  heard.  Instead  of  asserting,  that  the 
proclamation  was  legal,  he  should  have  said,  "  My 
lords,  I  know  the  proclamation  was  illegal ;  but  I 
advised  it,  because  it  was  indispensably  necessary  to 
save  the  kingdom  from  famine ;  and  I  submit  myself 
to  the  justice  and  mercy  of  my  country." 

Such  language  as  this  would  have  been  manly, 
rational,  and  consistent ;  not  unfit  for  a  lawyer,  and 
every  way  worthy  of  a  great  man. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 

P.  S.  If  Sca-vola  should  think  proper  to  write 
;igain  upon  this  subject,  I  beg  of  ham  to  give  me  a 
direct  answer  ;  that  is,  a  plain  atiirmative  or  negalh  . 
to  the  following  questions  : — In  the  interval  betweeu 
the  publishing  such  a  proclamation  (or  order  of  couu- 
cil)  as  that  in  question,  and  its  receiving  the  sanction 
«»f  the  two  houses,  of  what  nature  is  it :  Is  it  leg* 
illegal'?  Or,  is  it  neither  one  nor  the  olherr  I  mean 
to  be  candid,  and  will  point  out  to  him  the  conse- 
quence of  his  answer  either  way.     If  it  be  legal,  it 

wants  no  farther  sanction  :  if  it  be  illegal,  the  subject 

11 


162  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

is  not  bound  to  obey  it,  consequently  it  is  an  useless, 
nugatory  act,  even  as  to  its  declared  purpose.  Be- 
fore the  meeting  of  parliament,  the  whole  mischief 
which  it  means  to  prevent  will  have  been  completed. 


LX. 


To  Zeno. 

SIR,  October  17,  1771. 

The  sophistry  of  your  letter  in  defence  of  lord 
Mansfield  is  adapted  to  the  character  you  defend. 
But  lord  Mansfield  is  a  man  of  form,  and  seldom  in 
his  behaviour  transgresses  the  rules  of  decerum. 
I  shall  imitate  his  lordship's  good  manners,  and 
ijeaVe  you  in  full  possession  of  his  principles.  I 
will  not  call  you  liar,  Jesuit,  or  villain ;  but,  with 
all  the  politeness  imaginable,  perhaps  I  may  prove 
yt>u  so. 

Like  other  fair  pleaders  in  lord  Mansfield's 
school  of  justice,  you  answer  Junius  by  misquoting 
his  words,  and  mistaking  his  propositions.  If  I  am 
candid  enough  to  admit,  that  this  is  the  very  logic. 
ta light  at  St.  Omer's,  you  will  readily  allow,  that  this 
is  the  constant  practice  in  the  court  of  king's  bench. 
Junius  does  not  say  that  he  never  had  a  doubt  about 
tire  strict  right  of  pressing,  till  he  knew  lord  Mans- 
field was  of  the  same  opinion.  His  words  are,  "  until 
lie  heard  that  lord  Mansfield  had  applauded  lord 
Chatham  for  maintaining  that  doctrine  in  the  house 
of  lords."     It  was  not  the  accidental  concurrence  oi 


JUNIUS  S   LETTERS.  163 

lord  Mansfield's  opinion,  but  the  suspicious  applause 
given  by  a  cunning-  Scotchman  to  the  man  he  detest?. 
that  raised  and  justified  a  doubt  in  the  mind  of  Junius. 
The  question  is  not,  whether  lord  Mansfield  be  a  man 
of  learning  and  abilities  (which  Junius  has  never  dis- 
puted), but  whether  or  no  he  abuses  and  misapplies- 
his  talents. 

Junius  did  not  say  that  lord  Mansfield  had  advised 
the  calling  out  of  the  guards.  On  the  contrary,  his 
plain  meaning  is,  that  he  left  that  odious  office  to 
men  less  cunning  than  himself.  Whether  lord  Mans- 
field's doctrine  concerning  libels  be  or  be  not  an  at- 
tack upon  the  liberty  of  the  press,  is  a  question  which 
the  public  in  general  are  very  well  able  to  determine. 
1  shall  not  enter  into  it  at  present.  Nor  do  I  think, 
it  necessary  to  say  much  to  a  man,  who  had  the  dar- 
ing confidence  to  say  to  a  jury,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
are  to  bring  in  a  verdict  guilty  or  not  guilt!/  :  biuv 
whether  the  defendant  be  guilty  or  innocent,  is  not 
matter  for  your  consideration."  Clothe  it  in  what 
language  you  will,  this  is  the  sum  total  of  lord  Mans- 
field's doctrine.  If  not,  let  Zeno  show  us  the  difference. 

But  it  seems,  "  the  liberty  of  the  press  may  he 
abused,  and  the  abuse  of  a  valuable  privilege  is  the 
certain  means  to  lose- it."  The  first  I  admit;  but  let 
the  abuse  be'  submitted  to  a  jury,  a  sufficient,  and,,- 
indeed,  the  only  legal  and  constitutional  check  upon 
the  license  of  the  press.  The  second  I  flatly  dcn\  . 
Tn  direct  contradiction  to  lord  Mansfield,  I  affirm, 
that  "  the  abuse  of  a  valuable  privilege  it  not  the 
certain  means  to  lose  it ;"  if  it  were,  the  English  na- 
tion would  have  few  privileges  left ;  for,  where  is  the 
privilege  that  has  not,   at  one  time  or  other,   been 


164  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

abused  bv  individuals:  But  it  is  false  in  reason  and 
equity,  that  particular  abuses  should  produce  a  gene- 
ral forfeiture.  Shall  the  community  be  deprived  ot 
the  protection  of  the  laws,  because  there  are  robbers 
and  murderers  r  Shall  the  community  be  punished, 
because  individuals  have  offended  ?  Lord  Mansfield 
says  so,  consistently  enough  with  his  principles  ;  but 
I  wonder  to  find  him  so  explicit.  Yet,  for  one  con- 
cession, however  extorted,  I  confess  myself  obliged  to 
him.  The  liberty  of  the  press  is,  after  all,  a  valuable 
privilege.  I  agree  with  him  most  heartily,  and  will 
defend  it  against  him. 

You  ask  me,  What  juryman  was  challenged  by 
lord  Mansfield  %  I  tell  you ;  his  name,  is  Benson. 
When  his  name  was  called,  lord  Mansfield  ordered 
the  clerk  to  pass  him  by.  As  for  his  reasons,  you 
may  ask  himself,  for  he  assigned  none  :  but  I  can 
tell  you  what  all  men  thought  of  it.  This  Benson 
had  been  refractory  upon  a  former  jury,  and  would 
not  accept  of  the  law  as  delivered  by  Lord  Mansfield ; 
but  had  the  impudence  to  pretend  to  think  for  himself. 
But  you.  it  seems,  honest  Zeno,  know  nothing  of  the 
matter.  You  never  read  Junius's  letter  to  your  pat- 
ron :  you  never  heard  of  the  intended  instructions* 
from  the  city  to  impeach  lord  Mansfield  :  you  never 
heard  by  what  dexterity  of  Mr.  Paterson  that  measure 
was  prevented.  How  wonderfully  ill  some  people  are 
informed ! 

Junius  did  never  affirm,  that  the  crime  of  seducing 
the  wife  of  a  mechanic  or  a  peer,  is  not  the  same. 
taken  in  a  moral  or  religious  view.  What  he  affirm- 
ed, in  contradiction  to  the  levelling  principle  so  lately 
adopted  by  lord  Mansfield,  was,  "  that  the  damages 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  163 

should  be  proportioned  to  the  rank  and  fortune  of  the 
parties:"  and  for  this  plain  reason  (admitted  by  everv 
other  judge  that  ever  sat  in  Westminster-hall)  because 
what   is  a  compensation  or  penalty  to  one  man,  iv 
none  to  another.     The  sophistical  distinction  you  at- 
tempt to  draw  between   the  person   injured  and  the 
person   injuring,   is  Mansfield  all  over.     If  you  can 
once  establish  the  proposition,  that  the  injured  party 
is   not  entitled  to   receive  large  damages,  it  follows, 
pretty  plainly,  tint  the  party  injuring  should  not  be 
compelled   to  p:>  y   them  ;    consequently   the   king's 
brother  is  effectually  screened  by   lord    Mansfield's 
doctrine.    Your  reference  to  Nathan  and  David  comes 
naturally  in  aid  of  your  patrons  professed  system  of 
jurisprudence.     He  is  fond   of  introducing  into  the 
court  of  king's  bench  any  law  that  contradicts  or  ex- 
cludes the  common  law  of  England ;  whether  it  be 
canon,  civil,  jus  gentium,  or  Levitical.     But,  sir,  the 
Bible  is  the  code  of  our  religious  faith,   not  of  oar 
municipal  jurisprudence  :    and    though    it   was    the 
pleasure   of  God  to  inflict  a  particular  punishment 
upon  David's  crime  (taken  as  a  breach  of  his  divine 
commands)   and  to  send  his  prophet" to  denounce  it. 
an  English  jury  have  nothing  to  do  either  with  David 
or  the  prophet.     They  consider  the  crime  only  as  it 
is  a  breach  of  order,  an  injury  to  an  individual,  aud 
an  offence  to  society;  and  they  judge  of  it  by  certain 
positive  rules  of  law,  or  by  the  practice  of  their  an- 
cestors.    Upon   the   whole,  the    man  "  after  God':- 
own  heart"  is  much  indebted  to  you  for  comparing 
him  to  the  duke   of  Cumberland.     That  his  royal 
highness  may  be  the  man  after  lord  Mansfield's  own 
heart,  seems  much  more  probable  ;  and  you,  I  think. 


166  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

Mr.  Zeno,  might  succeed  tolerably  well  in  the  char- 
acter of  Nathan.  The  evil  deit}',  the  prophet,  and 
the  royal  sinner,  would  be  very  proper  company  for 
one  another. 

You  say,  lord  Mansfield  did  not  make  the  com- 
missioners of  the  great  seal,  and  that  he  only  ad- 
vised the  king  to  appoint.  I  believe  Junius  meant 
no  more ;  and  the  distinction  is  hardly  worth  dis- 
puting. 

You  say  he  did  not  deliver  an  opinion  upon  lord 
Chatham's  appeal.  I  affirm  that  he  did,  directly  in 
favour  of  the  appeal.  This  is  a  point  of  fact  to  be 
determined  by  evidence  only.  But  you  assign  no 
reason  for  his  supposed  silence,  nor  for  his  desiring  a 
conference  with  the  judges  the  day  before.  Was  not 
all  Westminster-hall  convinced  that  he  did  it  with  a 
view  to  puzzle  them  with  some  perplexing  question, 
and  in  hopes  of  bringing  some  of  them  over  to  him  ? 
You  say  the  commissioners  were  very  capable  of  fram- 
ing a  decree  for  themselves.  By  the  fact,  it  only  ap- 
pears, that  they  were  capable  of  framing  an  illegal 
one;  which,  I  apprehend,  is  not  much  to  the  credit 
either  of  their  learning  or  integrity. 

We  are  both  agreed,  that  lord  Mansfield  has  in- 
cessantly laboured  to  introduce  new  modes  of  pro- 
ceeding in  the  court  where  he  presides ;  but  3'ou 
attribute  it  to  an  honest  zeal  in  behalf  of  innocence, 
Oppressed  by  quibble  and  chicane.  I  say,  that  he  has 
introduced  new  law  toOj  and  removed  the  landmarks 
established  by  former  decisions.  I  say,  that  his  view 
is,  to  change  a  court  of  common  law  into  a  court  of 
equity,  and  to  bring  every  thing  within  the  arbitrium 
of  a  prodtorian  court.     The  public  must  determine 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  167 

between  us.  But  bow  for  his  merits.  First  then, 
the  establishment  of  the  judges  in  their  places  for  life, 
(which  you  tell  us  was  advised  by  lord  Mansfield) 
was  a  concession  merely  to  catch  the  people.  It  bore 
the  appearance  of  a  royal  bounty,  but  had  nothing 
real  in  it.  The  judges  were  already  for  life,  except- 
ing in  the  case  of  a  demise.  Your  boasted  bill  only 
provides,  that  it  shall  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  king's 
successor  to  remove  them.  At  the  best,  therefore,  it 
is  only  a  legacy,  not  a  gift,  on  the  part  of  his  present 
majesty,  since,  for  himself,  he  gives  up  nothing.  That 
he  did  oppose  lord  Camden  and  lord  Northington 
npon  the  proclamation  against  the  exportation  of  earn, 
is  most  true,  and  with  great  ability.  With  his  talents, 
and  taking  the  right  side  of  so  clear  a  question,  it 
was  impossible  to  speak  ill.  His  motives  are  not  so 
easily  penetrated.  They  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  state  of  politics  at  that  period,  will  judge  of  them 
somewhat  differently  from  Zeno.  Of  the  popular 
bills,  which  you  say  he  supported  in  the  house  of 
lords,  the  most  material  is  unquestionably  that  of  Mr. 
Grenville  for  decidiug  contested  elections.  But  I. 
should  be  glad  to  know  upon  what  possible  pretence 
any  member  of  the  upper  house  could  oppose  such  a 
bill,  after  it  had  passed  the  house  of  commons  ?  I  do 
not  pretend  to  know  what  share  he  had  in  promoting 
the  other  two  bills  ;  but  I  am  ready  to  give  him  al? 
{lie  credit  you  desire.  Still  you  will  find,  that  a 
whole  life  of  deliberate  iniquity  is  ill  atoned  for,  by 
doing  now  and  then  a  laudable  action,  upon  a  mixed 
or  doubtful  principle.  If  it.be  unworthy  of  him,  thus 
rmsrate  fully  treated,  to  labour  any  longer  for  the 
public,  in  God's  name,  lpt  him  retire.     His  brother's 


168  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

patron  (whose  health  he  once  was  anxious  for)  is  dead: 
but  the  son  of  that  unfortunate  prince  survives,  and. 
I  dare  say,  will  be  ready  to  receive  him. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


LXI. 

To  an  Advocate  in  the  Cause  of  the  People. 

SIR,  October  18,  1771. 

You  do  not  treat  Junius  fairly.  You  would  not 
have  condemned  him  so  hastily,  if  you  had  ever  read 
judge  Foster's  argument  upon  the  legality  of  pressing 
seamen.  A  man  who  has  not  read  that  argument,  is 
not  qualified  to  speak  accurately  upon  the  subject.  In 
answer  to  strong  facts  and  fair  reasoning,  you  produce 
nothing  but  a  vague  comparison  between  two  thing- 
which  have  little  or  no  resemblance  to  each  other. 
General  warrants,  it  is  true,  had  been  often  issued  ; 
but  they  had  never  been  regularly  questioned  or  re- 
sisted, until  the  case  of  Mr.  Wilkes.  He  brought 
them  to  trial ;  and  the  moment  they  were  tried,  they 
were  declared  illegal.  This  is  not  the  case  of  press1 
warrants.  They  have  been  complained  of,  question- 
ed, and  resisted  in  a  thousand  instances ;  but  still  the 
legislature  have  never  interposed,  nor  has  there  ever 
been  a  formal  decision  against  them  in  any  of  the 
superior  courts.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  been 
frequently  recognised  and  admitted  by  parliament ; 
and  there  are  judicial  opinions  given  in  their  favour 
by  judges  of  the  first  character.     Under  the  various 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  169 

circumstances  stated  by  Junius,  he  has  a  right  to 
conclude  for  himself,  that  there  is  no  remedy.  It 
you  have  a  good  one  to  propose,  you  may  depend 
upon  the  assistance  and  applause  of  Junius.  The 
magistrate  who  guards  the  liberty  of  the  individual 
deserves  to  be  commended.  But  let  him  remember, 
that  it  is  also  his  duty  to  provide  for,  or  at  least  not 
to  hazard,  the  safety  of  the  community.  If,  in  the 
case  of  a  foreign  war,  and  the  expectation  of  an  in- 
vasion, you  would  rather  keep  your  fleet  in  harbour, 
than  man  it  by  pressing  seamen  who  refuse  the  boun- 
ty, I  have  done. 

You  talk  of  disbanding  the  army  with  wonderful 
case  and  indifference.  If  a  wiser  man  held  such 
language,  I  should  be  apt  to  suspect  his  sincerity. 

As  for  keeping  up  a  much  greater  number  of  Sea 
men  in  time  of  peace,  it  is  not  to  be  done  :  you  will 
oppress  the  merchant,  you  will  distress  trade,  and 
destroy  the  nursery  of  your  seamen.  He  must  be  a 
miserable  statesman  who  voluntarily,  by  the  same  act, 
increases  the  public  expense,  and  lessens  the  means 
.  of  supporting  it. 

PHILO  JUNIUS. 


VOL.  IT. 


H 


170  JUNIUS  S   LETTERS. 


LXII. 

October  22,  1771- 
A  friend  of  Junius  desires  it  may  be  observed  (in 
answer  to  a  barrister  at  law.) 

1.  That  the  fact  of  lord  Mansfield's  having  ordered 
a  juryman  to  be  passed  by  (which  poor  Zeno  nevev 
heard  of)  is  now  formally  admitted.  When  Mr.  Ben- 
son's  name  was  called,  lord  Mansfield  was  observed 
to  flush  in  the  face  (a  signal  of  guilt  not  uncommon 
with  him),  and  cried  out,  "  Pass  him  by."  This  I 
take  to  be  something  more  than  a  peremptory  chal- 
lenge :  it  is  an  unlawful  command,  without  any  rea- 
son assigned.  That  the  counsel  did  not  resist,  is  truer 
but  this  might  happen  either  from  inadvertence,  or  a 
criminal  complaisance  to  lord  Mansfield.  You  bar- 
risters are  too  apt  to  be  civil  to  my  lord  chief  justice. 
at  the  expense  of  your  clients. 

2.  Junius  did  never  say,  that  lord  Mansfield  had 
destroyed  the  liberty  of  the  press.  "  That  his  lord 
ship  has  laboured,  to  destroy,  that  his  doctrine  is  an 
attack  upon  the  liberty  of  the  press,  that  it  is  an  inva- 
sion of  the  right  of  juries,"  are  the  propositions 
maintained  by  Junius.  His  opponents  never  answei 
him  in  point;  for  they  never  meet  him  fairly  upon 
his  own  ground. 

3.  Lord  Mansfield's  policy,  in  endeavouring  to 
screen  his  unconstitutional  doctrines  behind  an  act 
of  the  legislature,  is  easily  understood.     Let  evfrj 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  171 

Englishman  stand  upon  his  guard  :  the  right  of 
juries  to  return  a  general  verdict,  in  all  cases  what- 
soever, is  a  part  of  our  constitution.  It  stands  in 
no  need  of  a  bill,  either  enacting  or  declaratory,  to 
confirm  it. 

4.  With  regard  to  the  Grosvenor  cause,  it  is 
pleasant  to  observe,  that  the  doctrine  attributed  by 
Junius  to  lord  Mansfield  is  admitted  by  Zeno,  and 
directly  defended.  The  banister  has  not  the  as- 
surance to  deny  it  flatly  ;  but  he  evades  the  charge, 
and  softens  the  doctrine,  by  such  poor  contemptible 
quibbles  as  cannot  impose  upon  the  meanest  under- 
standing. 

5.  The  quantity  of  business  in  the  court  of  king'} 
bench  proves  nothing  but  the  litigious  spirit  of  the 
people,  arising  from  the  great  increase  of  wealth  and 
commerce.  These,  however,  are  now  upon  the  de- 
cline, and  will  soon  leave  nothing  but  lau-suits  be- 
hind them.  When  Junius  affirms,  that  lord  Mans- 
field has  laboured  to  alter  the  system  of  jurisprudence 
in  the  court  where  his  lordship  presides,  he  speaks  to 
those  who  are  able  to  look  a  little  farther  than  the 
vulgar.  Besides,  that  the  multitude  are  easily  de- 
ceived by  the  imposing  names  of  equity  and  substan- 
tial justice,  it  does  not  follow  that  a  judge,  who  in- 
troduces into  his  court  new  modes  of  proceeding,  and 
new  principles  of  law,  intends,  in  every  instance,  to 
decide  unjustly.  Why  should  he,  where  he  has  no 
interest  ?  We  say,  that  lord  Mansfield  is  a  bad  man. 
and  a  worse  judge  ;  but  we  do  not  say  that  he  is  a 
mere  devil.  Our  adversaries  would  fain  reduce  us  to 
the  difficulty  of  proving  too  much.  This  artifice, 
however,  shall  not  avail  liim.     The  truth  of  the  mat- 


172  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

ter  is  plainly  this :  when  lord  Mansfield  has  succeeded 
in  his  scheme  of  changing  a  court  of  common  law  to 
a  court  of  equity,  he  will  have  it  in  his  power  to  do 
injustice  whenever  he  thinks  proper.  This,  though  a 
wicked  purpose,  is  neither  absurd  nor  unattainable. 

G.  The  last  paragraph,  relative  to  lord  Chatham's 
cause,  cannot  be  answered.  It  partly  refers  to  facts 
of  too  secret  a  nature  to  be  ascertained,  and  partly  is 
unintelligible.  "  Upon  one  point  the  cause  is  decid- 
ed against  lord  Chatham  :  upon  another  point  it  is 
decided  for  him."  Both  the  law  and  the  language 
are  well  suited  to  a  barrister  !  If  I  have  any  guess 
at  this  honest  gentleman's  meaning,  it  is,  "  That 
whereas  the  commissioners  of  the  great  seal  saw  the 
question  in  a  point  of  view  unfavourable  to  lord 
Chatham,  and  decreed  aceordingly  ;  lord  Mansfield, 
out  of  sheer  love  and  kindness  to  lord  Chatham,  took 
the  pains  to  place  it  in  a  point  of  view  more  favour- 
able to  the  appellant."  Credat  Judceus  Apella.  So 
curious  an  assertion  would  stagger  the  faith  of  Mr. 
Sylva. 


LXIII. 

November  2,  1771. 

We  are  desired  to  make  the  following  declaration, 
-in?  behalf  of  Junius,  upon  three  material  points;. 
on  which  his  opinion  has  been  mistaken  or  misre- 
presented. 

1.  Junius   considers   the  right  of  taxing  the  coin- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  173 

nies,  by  an  act  of  the  British  legislature,  as  a  specu- 
lative right  merely,  never  to  be  exerted  nor  ever  to  be 
renounced.  To  his  judgment  it  appears  plain,  "  Thais 
the  general  reasonings  which  were  employed  against 
that  power,  went  directly  to  our  whole  legislative  right; 
and  that  one  part  of  it  could  not  be  yielded  to  such 
arguments,  without  a  virtual  surrender  of  all  the  rest.'" 
2.  That,  with  regard  to  press-warrants,  his  argu- 
ment should  be  taken  in  his  own  words,  and  answer- 
ed strictly  ;  that  comparisons  may  sometimes  illus- 
trate, but  prove  nothing ;  and  that,  in  this  case,  an 
appeal  to  the  passions  is  unfair  and  unnecessary. 
Junius  feels  and  acknowledges  the  evil  in  the  most 
express  terms,  and  will  show  himself  ready  to  concur 
in  any  rational  plan  that  may  provide  for  the  liberty 
of  the  individual,  without  hazarding  the  safety  of  the 
community.  At  the  same  time  he  expects  that  the 
evil,  such  as  it  is,  be  not  exaggerated  or  misrepre- 
sented. In  general,  it  is  not  unjust,  that,  when  the 
rich  man  contributes  his  wealth,  the  poor  man  should 
serve  the  state  in  person  :  otherwise,  the  latter  con- 
tributes nothing  to  the  defence  of  that  law  ami  con- 
stitution from  which  he  demands  safety  and  protec- 
tion. But  the  question  does  not  lie  between  the  rich 
and  the  poor.  The  laws  of  England  make  no  such 
distinctions.  Neither  is  it  true,  that  the  poor  man  is 
torn  from  the  care  and  support  of  a  wife  and  family, 
helpless  without  him.  The  single  question  is,  Whether 
the  seaman*  in  times  of  public  danger,  shall  serve  the 

*  I  confine  myself  strictly  to  seamen,  It  stay  others  are 
pressed,  it  is  a  uross  abuse,  which  the  magistrate  can  and 
should  correct. 


1J4  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

merchant,  or  the  state,  in  that  profession  to  which  he 
was  bred,  and  by  the  exercise  of  which  alone  he  can 
honestly  support  himself  and  his  family  ?  General 
arguments  against  the  doctrine  of  necessity,  and  the 
dangerous  use  that  may  be  made  of  it,  are  of  no  weight 
in  this  particular  case.  Necessity  includes  the  idea 
of  inevitable.  Whenever  it  is  so,  it  creates  a  law  to 
which  all  positive  laws,  and  all  positive  rights  must 
give  way.  In  this  sense,  the  levy  of  ship-money  by 
the  king's  warrant  was  not  necessary,  because  the 
business  might  have  been  as  well  or  better  done  by 
parliament.  If  the  doctrine  maintained  by  Junius  be 
confined  within  this  limitation,  it  will  go  but  a  very 
little  way  in  support  of  arbitrary  power.  That  the 
king  is  to  judge  of  the  occasion,  is  no  objection,  un- 
less we  are  told  how  it  can  possibly  be  otherwise. 
There  are  other  instances,  not  less  important  in  the 
exercise,  nor  less  dangerous  in  the  abuse,  in  which 
the  constitution  relies  entirely  upon  the  king's  judg- 
ment. The  executive  power  proclaims  war  and 
peace,  binds  the  nation  by  treaties,  orders  general 
embargoes,  and  imposes  quarantines  ;  not  to  men- 
lion  a  multitude  of  prerogative  writs,  which,  though 
liable  to  the  greatest  abuses,  were  never  disputed. 

3.  It  has  been  urged,  as  a  reproach  to  Junius,  that 
he  has  not  delivered  an  opinion  upon  the  game  laws, 
and  particularly  the  late  dog  act.  But  Junius  thinks 
lie  has  much  greater  reason  to  complain,  that  he  is 
never  assisted  by  those  who  are  able  to  assist  him  : 
and  that  almost  the  whole  labour  of  the  press  is  thrown 
upon  a  single  hand,  from  which  a  discussion  of  every 
public  question  is  unreasonably  expected.  He  is  not 
paid  for  his  labour,  and  certainly  has  a  right  t.o 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  175 

*Aoose  his  employment.     As  to  the  game  laws,  he 
never  scrupled  to  declare  his  opinion,  that  they  are 
a  species  of  the  forest  laws  :  that  they  are  oppressive 
to  the  subject ;  and  thai  the  spirit  of  them  is  incom- 
patible with  legal  liberty  ;  that  the  penalties  imposed 
by  these  laws  bear  no  proportion  to  the  nature  of  the 
offence :  that  the  mode  of  trial,  and  the  degree  and 
kind  of  evidence  necessary  to  convict,  not  only  de- 
prive the  subject  of  all  the  benefits  of  a  trial  by  jury, 
but  are  in  themselves  too  summary,  and  to  the  last 
degree  arbitrary  and  oppressive  :  that,  in  particular, 
the  late  acts  to  prevent  dog  stealing,  or  killing  game 
between  sun  and  sun,  are  distinguished  by  their  ab- 
surdity, extravagance,  and  pernicious  tendency.     If 
these  terms  are  weak  or  ambiguous,  in  what  language 
can  Junius  express  himself  ?     It  is  no  excuse  for  lord 
Mansfield  to  say,  that  he  happened  to  be  absent  when 
these  bills  passed  the  house  of  lords.     It  was  his  duty 
to  be  present.     Such  bills  could  never  have  passed 
the  house  of  commons  without  his  knowledge.     But 
we  very  well  know  by  what  rule  lie  regulates  his  at- 
tendance.    When  that  order  was  made  in  the  house 
of  lords,  in  the  case  of  lord  Pomfret,  at  which  every 
Englishman    shudders,    my   honest    lord    Mansfield 
found  himself,  by  mere  accident,  in  the  court  of  king's 
bench  ;  otherwise  he  would  have  done  wonders  in 
defence  of  law  and   property !     The  pitiful  evasion 
is  adapted  to  the  character.     But  Junius  will  never 
justify   himself  by    the   example    of  this  bad  man. 
The  distinction  between  doing  wrong,  and  avoiding 
to  do  right,  belongs  to  lord  Mansfield.     Junius  dis- 
■elaims  it. 


m  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 


LXIV. 

To  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield. 

November  2,  1771. 
At  the  intercession  of  three  of  your  countrymen, 
you  have  bailed  a  man,  who,  I  presume,  is  also  a 
Scotchman,  and  whom  the  lord  mayor  of  London  had 
refused  to  bail.  I  do  not  mean  to  enter  into  an  exam- 
ination of  the  partial,  sinister  motives  of  your  conduct  r 
but,  confining  myself  strictly  to  the  fact,  I  affirm,  that 
you  have  done  that,  which,  by  law,  you  were  not 
warranted  to  do.  The  thief  was  taken  in  the  theft ; 
the  stolen  goods  were  found  upon  him,  and  he  made 
no  defence.  In  these  circumstances  (the  truth  of 
which  you  dare  not  deny,  because  it  is  of  public  no- 
toriety) it  could  not  stand  indifferent,  whether  he  wits 
guilty  or  not,  much  less  could  there  be  an}7  presump- 
tion of  his  innocence;  and,  in  these  circumstances,  I 
affirm,  in  contradiction  to  you,  lord  chief  justice 
Mansfield,  that,  by  the  laws  of  England,  he  was  not 
bailable.  If  ever  Mr.  Eyre  should  be  brought  to  trial, 
we  shall  hear  what  you  have  to  say  for  yourself; 
and  I  pledge  myself,  before  God  and  my  country, 
in  proper  time  and  place,  to  make  good  my  charge 
against  you. 

JUNIUS. 


JUNIUS  3   LETTERS.  177 


LXV. 


To  the  Printer  of  the  Public  Advertiser. 

November  9,  1771. 
Junius  engages  to  make  good  his  charge  against 
lord  chief  justice  Mansfield,  some  time  before  the 
meeting  of  parliament,  in  order  that  the  house  of 
commons  may,  if  they  think  proper,  make  it  one 
article  in  the  impeachment  of  the  said  lord  chief 
justice. 


LXVI. 


To  his  Grace  the  Diike  of  Grafton. 

November  27,  -1771. 

What  is  the  reason,  my  lord,  that,  when  almost 
every  man  in  the  kingdom,  without  distinction  of 
principles  or  party,  exults  in  the  ridiculous  defeat  of 
sir  James  Lowther,  when  good  and  bad  men  unite  in 
'.me  common  opinion  of  that  baronet,  and  triumph  in 
his  distress,  as  if  the  event  (without  any  reference  to 
vice  or  virtue,)  were  interesting  to  human  nature, 
your  grace  alone  should  appear  so  miserably  depres- 
sed and  afflicted  i     In  such  universal  joy,  I  know  not 

where  you  will  look  lor  a  compliment  of  condolence, 

II  2  12 


178  JUNIUS  S   LETTERS. 

unless  you  appeal  to  the  tender,  sympathetic  sorrow 
of  Mr.  Bradshaw.  That  cream-coloured  gentleman's 
tears,  affecting  as  they  are,  carry  consolation  along 
with  them.  He  never  weeps,  but.  like  an  April 
-hower,  with  a  lambent  ray  of  sunshine  upon  his 
countenance.  From  the  feelings  of  honest  men  upon 
this  joyful  occasion,  I  do  not  mean  to  draw  any  con- 
clusion to  your  grace.  They  naturally  rejoice  when 
they  see  a  signal  instance  of  tyranny  resisted  with 
success,  of  treachery  exposed  to  the  derision  of  the 
world,  an  infamous  informer  defeated,  and  an  impu- 
dent robber  dragged  to  the  public  gibbet.  But  in 
the  other  class  of  mankind,  I  own  I  expected  to  meet 
the  duke  of  Grafton.  Men  who  had  no  regard  for 
justice,  nor  any  sens.;  of  honour,  seem  as  heartily 
pleased  with  sir  James  Lowthers  well-deserved  pun- 
ishment, as  if  it  did  not  constitute  an  example  against 
themselves.  The  unhappy  baronet  has  no  friends, 
even  among  those  who  resemble  him.  Tou,  my  lord, 
are  not  reduced  to  so  deplorable  a  state  of  derelic- 
tion :  every  villain  in  the  kingdom  is  your  friend  ;  and. 
in  compliment  to  such  amity,  I  think  you  should  suf- 
fer your  dismal  countenance  to  clear  up.  Besides, 
my  lord,  I  am  a  little  anxious  for  the  consistency 
of  your  character.  You  violate  yeur  own  rules  of 
decorum,  when  you  do  not  insult  the  man  you  have 
betrayed. 

The  divine  justice  of  retribution  seems  now  to  have 
begun  its  progress.  Deliberate  treachery  entails 
punishment  upon  the  traitor.  There  is  no  possibility 
ef  escaping  it,  even  in  the  highest  rank  to  which  the 
consent  of  society  can  exalt  the  meanest  and  worst  of 
men.     The  forced,  unnatural  union  of  Luttrell  and 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  170 

Middlesex  was  an  omen  of  another  unnatural  union, 
by  which  indefeasible  infamy  is  attached  to  the  house 
of  Brunswick.  If  one  of  those  acts  was  virtuous  and 
honourable,  the  best  of  princes.  I  thank  God,  is  hap- 
pily rewarded  for  it  by  the  other.  Your  grace,  it 
has  been  said,  had  some  share  in  recommending 
colonel  Luttrell  to  the  king  :  or  was  it  only  the  gen- 
tle Bradshaw  who  made  himself  answerable  for  the 
good  behaviour  of  his  friend  r  An  intimate  connexion 
has  long  subsisted  between  him  and  the  worthy  lord 
Irnham.  It  arose  from  a  fortunate  similarity  of  prin- 
ciples, cemented  by  the  constant  mediation  of  their 
common  friend  Miss  Davis.* 

*  There  is  a  certain  family  in  this  country,  on  which 
nature  seems  to  have  entailed  an  hereditary  baseness  of 
disposition.  As  far  as  their  history  has  been  known,  the 
son  has  regularly  improved  upon  the  vices  of  his  father, 
and  has  taken  care  to  transmit  them  pure  and  undiminished 
into  the  bosom  of  his  successor.  In  the  senate,  their  abili- 
ties have  confined  then  to  those  humble,  sordid  services,  in 
which  the  scavengers  of  the  ministry  are  usually  employed. 
Bat  in  the  memoirs  of  private  treachery,  they  stand  first  and 
unrivalled.  The  following  story  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
character  of  this  respectable  family,  and  to  convince  the 
world,  that  the  present  possessor  has  as  clear  a  title  to  the 
infamy  of  his  ancestors,  as  he  has  to  their  estate.  It  deserves 
to  be  recorded  for  the  curiosity  of  the  fact,  and  should  be 
en  to  the  public,  as  a  warning  to  every  honest  member 
of  society. 

The  present  lord  Irnham,  who  is  now  in  the  decline  of 
iife,  lately  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  a  younger  brother 
of  a  family,  with  which  he  had  lived  in  some  degree  of  inti- 
macy and* friendship.     The  young  man  had  long  been  the 


180  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS, 

Yet  I  confess  I  should  be  sorry  that  the  opprobri- 
ous infamy  of  this  match  should  reach  beyond  the 
family.  We  have  now  a  better  reason  than  ever  to 
pray  for  the  long  life  of  the  best  of  princes,  and  the 
welfare  of  his  royal  issue.  I  will  not  mix  any  thing- 
ominous  with  my  prayers:  but  let  parliament  look 
to-  it.  A  Luttrell  shall  never  succeed  to  the  crown 
of  England.  If  the  hereditary  virtues  of  the  family 
deserve  a  kingdom,  Scotland  will  be  a  proper  retreat 
for  them. 

The  next  is  a  most  remarkable  instance  of  the 
goodness  of  Providence.  The  just  law  of  retaliation 
has  at  last  overtaken  the  little  contemptible  tyrant  of 
the  north.  To  this  son-in-law  of  your  dearest  friend, 
die  earl  of  Bute,  you  meant  to  transfer  the  duke  of 
Portland's  property  ;  and  you   hastened   the  grant 


dupe  of  a  most  unhappy  attachment  to  a  common  prosti- 
tute. His  friends  and  relations  foresaw  the  consequences 
of  this  connexion,  and  did  every  thiag  that  depended  uptfn 
them  to  save  him  from  ruin.  But-  he  had  a  friend  in  lord 
Irnham,  whose  advice  rendered  all  their  endeavours  ineffec- 
tual. This  hoary  lecher,  not  contented  with  the  enjoy- 
ra/ nt  of  his  friend's  mistress,  was  base  enough  to  take  ad* 
vantage  of  the  passions  and  folly  of  the  young  man,  and 
persuaded  him  to  marry  her.  He  descended  even  to  per- 
form the  office  of  father  to  the  prostitute.  He  gave  her  to. 
his  friend,  who  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  kingdom, 
and  the  next  night  lay  with  her  himself. 

Whether  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart  can  produce 
any  thing  more  base  and  detestable  than  this  fact,  must  be 
left  undetermined,  until  the  son  shall  arrive  at  his  father's 
age  and  experience. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  181 

with  an  expedition  unknown  to  the  treasury,  that  he 
might  have  it  time  enough  to  give  a  decisive  turn  to 
the  election  for  the  county.  The  immediate  conse- 
quence of  this  flagitious  robbery  was,  that  he  lost  the 
election  which  you  meant  to  insure  him,  aud  with 
such  signal  circumstances  of  scorn,  reproach,  and 
insult,  (to  say  nothing  of  the  general  exultation  of  al 
parties,)  as  (excepting  the  king's  brother-in-law. 
colonel  Luitrell,  and  old  Simon,  his  father-in-law) 
hardly  ever  fell  upon  a  gentleman  in  this  country 
In  the  event,  he  loses  the  very  property  of  which  he 
thought  he  had  gotten  possession,  and  after  an  ex- 
pense which  would  have  paid  the  value  of  the  land  in 
question  twenty  times  over.  The  forms  of  villany, 
you  see,  are  necessary  to  its  success.  Hereafter  you 
will  act  with  greater  circumspection,  and  not  drive 
b'o  directly  to  your  object.  To  snatch  a  grace  beyond- 
the  reach  of  common  treachery,  is  an  exception,  not 
a-  rule. 

And  now,  my  good  loro\  does  not  your  conscious 
heart  inform  you,  that  the  justice  of  retribution  be- 
gins to  operate,  and  that  it  may  soon  approach  your 
person  ?  Do  you  think  that  Junius  has  renounced 
the  Middlesex  election  ?  or  that  the  king's  timber 
shall  he  refused  to  the  royal  navy  with  impunity  ?  or. 
that  you  shall  hear  no  more  of  the  sale  of  that  patent 
10  Mr.  Hine,  which  you  endeavour  to  screen  by  sud- 
denly dropping  your  prosecution  of  Samuel  Vaughan, 
when  the  rule  against  him  was  made  absolute  ?  1 
believe,  indeed,  there  never  was  such  an  instance  in 
all  the  history  of  negative  impudence.  But  it  shall 
not  save  you.     The  very  sunshine  you  live  in  is  a 


132  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

prelude  to  }rour  dissolution.     When  you  are  ripe,  you 
shall  be  plucked, 

JUNIUS. 

P.  S.  I  beg  you  will  convey  to  your  gracious  mas- 
ter my  humble  congratulations  upon  the  glorious  suc- 
cess of  peerages  and  pensions  so  lavishly  distributed 
as  the  rewards  of  Irish  virtue. 


LXVII. 

To  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield. 

January  21,  1772. 
I  have  undertaken  to  prove,  that  when,  at  the 
intercession  of  three  of  your  countrymen,  you  bailed 
John  Eyre,  you  did  that  "  which  by  law  you  were 
not  warranted  to  do  ;"  and  that  a  felon,  under  the 
circumstances  "  of  being  taken  in  the  fact,  with  the 
stolen  goods  upon  him,  and  making  no  defence,  is  not 
bailable"  by  the  laws  of  England.  Your  learned 
advocates  have  interpreted  this  charge  into  a  denial. 
that  the  court  of  king's  bench,  or  the  judges  of  that 
court,  during  the  vacation,  have  any  greater  authori- 
ty to  bail  for  criminal  offences  than  a  justice  of  peace. 
With  the  instance  before  me,  I  am  supposed  to  ques- 
tion your  power  of  doing  wrong,  and  to  deny  the 
existence  of  a  power,  at  the  same  moment  that  I  ar- 
raign the  illegal  exercise  of  it.  But  the  opinions  of 
such  men,  whether  wilful  in  their  rr>alignity,  or  sincere 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  183 

in  their  ignorance,  are  unworthy  of  my  notice.  You. 
lord  Mansfield,  did  not  understand  me  so  ;  and  J 
promise  you,  your  cause  requires  an  abler  defence. 
I  am  now  to  make  good  my  charge  against  you. 
However  dull  my  argument,  the  subject  of  it  is  inter- 
esting.  I  shall  be  honoured  with  the  attention  of  the 
public,  and  have  a  right  to  demand  the  attention  of 
the  legislature.  Supported,  as  I  am,  by  the  whole 
body  of  the  criminal  law  of  England,  I  have  no  doubt 
of  establishing  my  charge.  If,  on  your  part,  you  shall 
have  no  plain  substantial  defence,  but  should  endea- 
vour to  shelter  yourself  under  the  quirk  and  evasion 
of  a  practising  lawyer,  or  under  the  mere  insulting 
assertion  of  power  without  right,  the  reputation  you 
pretend  to  is  gone  for  ever ;  you  stand  degraded  from 
the  respect  and  authority  of  your  office,  and  are  no 
longer  dejurc,  lord  chief  justice  of  England. 

This  letter,  my  lord,  is  addressed  not  so  much  to 
you,  as  to  the  public.  Learned  as  you  are,  and  quick 
in  apprehension,  few  arguments  are  necessary  to  satis- 
fy you,  thakyou  have  done  that,  which,  by  law,  you 
were  not  warranted  to  do.  Your  conscience  already 
tells  you,  that  you  have  sinned  against  knowledge  : 
and  that,  whatever  defence  you  make,  contradicts 
your  own  internal  conviction.  But  other  men  an 
willing  enough  to  take  the  law  upon  trust.  They 
rely  upon  your  authority,  because  they  are  too  indo- 
lent to  search  for  information  :  or,  conceiving  that 
there  is  some  mystery  in  the  laws  of  their  country, 
which  lawyers  are  only  qualified  to  explain,  they  dis- 
trust their  judgment,  and  voluntarily  renounce  the 
right  of  thinking  for  themselves.  With  all  the  evi- 
dence of  history  before  them,  from  Trcsilian  to  Jeffc- 


[84  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

ries,  from  Jcfferies  to  Mansfield,  they  will  not  believe 
it  possible  that  a  learned  judge  can  act  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  those  laws,  which  he  is  supposed  to  make 
the  study  of  his  life,  and  which  he  has  sworn  to  ad- 
minister faithfully.  Superstition  is  certainly  not  the 
characteristic  of  this  age  ;  yet  some  men  are  bigotted 
in  politics  who  are  infidels  in  religion.  I  do  not  des- 
pair of  making  them  ashamed  of  their  credulity. 

The  charge  I  brought  against  you  is  expressed  in 
terms  guarded  and  well  considered.  They  do  not 
deny  the  strict  power  of  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
king's  bench  to  bail  in  cases  not  bailable  by  a  justice 
of  peace,  nor  replevisable  by  the  common  writ,  or 
ex  officio,  by  the  sheriff.  I  well  know  the  practice  of 
the  court,  and  by  what  legal  rules  it  ought  to  be  di- 
rected. But,  far  from  meaning  to  soften  or  diminislt 
ihe  force  of  those  terms  I  have  made  use  of,  I  now  go 
beyond  them,  and  affirm, 

1.  That  the  superior  power  of  bailing  for  felony, 
claimed  by  the  court  of  king's  bench,  is  founded  upon 
the  opinion  of  lawyers,  and  the  practice  of  the  co«rt ; 
th.at  the  assent  of  the  legislature  to  this  power  is  mere- 
ly negative,  and  that  it  is  not  supported  by  any  posi- 
tive provision  in  any  statute  whatsoever.  If  it  be, 
produce  the  statute. 

2.  Admitting  that  the  judges  of  the  court  of  king's 
bench  are  vested  with  a  discretionary  power  to  exam- 
iue  and  judge  of  circumstances  and  allegations  which 
a  justice  of  peace  is  not  permitted  to  consider,  I  af- 
firm that  the  judges,  in  the  use  and  application  of  that 
discretionary  power,  are  as  strictly  bound  by  the 
spirit,  intent,  and  meaning,  as  the  justice  of  peace  is 
By  the  words  of  the  legislature.     Favourable  circum- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  185 

stances,  alleged  before  the  judge,  may  justify  a 
doubt,  whether  the  prisoner  be  guilty  or  not ;  and 
where  the  guilt  is  doubtful,  a  presumption  of  inno- 
cence should  in  general  be  admitted.  But,  when  any 
such  probable  circumstances  are  alleged,  they  alter 
the  state  and  condition  of  the  prisoner.  He  is  no 
longer  that  all-but-convicted  felon,  whom  the  law  in- 
tends, and  who  by  law  is  not  bailable  at  all.  If  no 
circumstances  whatsoever  are  alleged  in  his  favour  ; 
if  no  allegation  whatsoever  be  made  to  lessen  the 
force  of  that  evidence  which  the  law  annexes  ten  a 
positive  charge  of  felony,  and  particularly  to  the  fact 
of  being  taken  with  the  manner ;  I  then  say,  that  the 
lord  chief  justice  of  England  has  no  more  right  to  bail 
him  than  a  justice  of  peace.  The  discretion  of  an 
English  judge  is  not  of  mere  will  and  pleasure  ;  it  is 
not  arbitrary  ;  it  is  not  capricious;  but,  as  that  grca£ 
lawyer  (whose  authority  I  wish  you  respected  half  as 
much  as  I  do)  truly  says,*  "  Discretion,  taken  as  it 
ought  to  be,  is,  discernere  per  legem  quid  sit  ju&tum.- 
If  it  be  not  directed  by  the  right  line  of  the  law,  it  is 
a  crooked  cord,  and  appeareth  to  be  unlawful."  II 
discretion  were  arbitrary  in  the  judge,  he  might  in- 
troduce whatever  novelties  he  thought  proper.  But, 
says  lord  Coke,  "  Novelties,  without  warrant  of  pre- 
cedents, arc  not  to  be  allowed  :  some  certain  rules  are 
to  be  followed:  Quicqiiidjudicis  auctoritati  subjicitur 
novitati  non  subjicitur."  And  this  sound  doctriHC  is. 
applied  to  the  star-chamber,  a  court  confessedly  arbi- 
trary.    If  you  will   abide  by  the  authority  of  this 


*  Inst.  41.  66. 


;:o  junius's  letters. 

&reat  man,  you  shall  have  all  the  advantage  of  hi:* 
opinion,  wherever  it  appears  to  favour  you.  Ex- 
cepting the  plain,  express  meaning  of  the  legislature, 
to  which  all  private  opinions  must  give  way,  I  desire 
no  better  judge  between  as  than  lord  Coke. 

3.  I  affirm  that,  according  to  the  obvious,  indis- 
putable  meaning  of  the  legislature,  repeatedly  ex-1 
pressed,  a  person  positively  charged  with  feloniously 
stealing,    and   taken   in  flagrante  delicto,  with    the 
stolen  goods  upon  him,  is  not  bailable.     The  law 
considers  him  as  differing  in  nothing  from  a  convict, 
but  in  the  form  of  conviction  ;  and  (whatever  a  cor- 
rupt judge  may  do)  will  accept  of  no  security,  but 
the  confinement  of  his  body  within  four  walls.      I 
know  it  has  been  alleged,  in  your  favour,  that  you 
have  often  bailed  for  murders,  rapes,  and  other  mani- 
fest crimes.     Without  questioning  the  fact,  I  shall 
not  admit  that  you  are  to  be  justified  by  your  own  ex- 
ample.    If  that  were  a  protection  to  you,  where  is 
the  crime,  that,  as  a  judge,  you  might  not  now  se- 
curely commit  ?     But  neither  shall  I  suffer  myself  to 
be  drawn  aside  from  my  present  argument,  nor  you 
to  profit  by  your  own  wrong.    To  prove  the  meaning 
and  intent  of  the  legislature,  will  require  a  minute 
and  tedious  deduction.     To  investigate  a  question  of 
law,  demands  some  labour  and  attention,  though  very 
little  genius  or  sagacity.     As  a  practical  profession, 
the  study  of  the  law  requires  but  a  moderate  portion 
of  abilities.     The  learning  of  a  pleader  is  usually 
upon  a  level  with  his  integrity.     The  indiscriminate 
defence   of   right   and   wrong  contracts  the  under- 
standing, while   it  corrupts  the  heart.      Subtilty  is 
soon  mistaken  for  wisdom,  and  impunity  for  virtue, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  ig? 

If  there  be  any  instances  upon  record  (as  some  there; 
are  undoubtedly,  of  genius  and  morality  united  in  a 
lawyer)  they  are  distinguished  by  their  singularity, 
and  operate  as  exceptions. 

I  must  solicit  the  patience  of  my  readers.  This  is 
no  light  matter  ;  nor  is  it  any  more  susceptible  of  or- 
nament, than  the  conduct  of  lord  Mansfield  is  capa- 
ble of  aggravation. 

As  the  law  of  bail,  in  charges  of  felony,  has  been 
exactly  ascertained  by  acts  of  the  legislature,  it  is  at 
present  of  little  consequence  to  inquire  how  it  stood 
at  common  law  before  the  statute  of  Westminster. 
A.nd  yet  it  is  worth  the  reader's  attention  to  observe, 
how  nearly,  in  the  ideas  of  our  ancestors,  the  cir- 
cumstance of  being  taken  with  the  maner  approach- 
ed to  the  conviction*  of  the  felon.  It  "  fixed  the 
authoritative  stamp  of  verisimilitude  upon  the  accu- 
sation :  and,  by  the  common  law,  with  the  things 
stolen  upon  him  in  manu,  he  might,  so  detected. 
flagrante  delicto,  be  brought  into  court,  arraigned, 
and  tried,  without  indictment ;  as,  by  the  Danish  law. 
lie  might  be  taken  and  hanged  on  the  spot,  without 
accusation  or  trial."  It  will  soon  appear  that  our 
statute  in  law,  in  this  behalf,  though  less  summary 
in  point  of  proceeding,  is  directed  by  the  same  spir- 
it. In  one  instance,  the  very  form  is  adhered  to. 
In  offences  relating  to  the  forest,  if  a  man  was  taken 
with  vert,  or  venison,!  it  was  declared  to  be  equiva- 
lent to  indictment.     To  enable  the  reader  to  judge 


*  Blackstone,  iv.  303. 

i   t  Ed.  III.  cap.  8  ;  and  7  Bic.  II.  cap.  4. 


188  JUNIUS'S  LETTERS. 

tor  himself,  I  shall  state,  in  due  order,  the  several 
statutes  relative  to  bail  in  criminal  cases,  or  as  much 
of  them  as  may  be  material  to  the  point  in  question, 
emitting  superfluous  words.  If  I  misrepresent,  or 
do  not  quote  with  fidelity,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
detect  me. 

*  The  statute  of  Westminster  the  first,  in  1275, 
sets  forth,  that  "  Forasmuch  as  sheriffs  and  others, 
who  have  taken  and  kept  in  prison  persons  detected 
of  felony  and  incontinent,  have  let  out  by  replevin 
Such  as  were  not  replevisable,  because  they  would 
g^in  of  the  one  party,  and  grieve  the  other  ;  and 
forasmuch  as,  before  this  time,  it  was  not  determined 
which  persons  were  replevisable,  and  which  not ;  it 
is  provided,  and  by  the  king  commanded,  that  such 
prisoners,  he.  as  be  taken  with  the  maner,  &c. 
-or  for  manifest  offences,  shall  be  in  no  wise  re- 
plevisable by  the  common  writ,  nor  without  writ." 
Lord  Coke,f  in  his  exposition  of  the  last  part  of 
fhis  quotation,  accurately  distinguishes  between  re- 
plevy, by  the  common  writ,  or  ex  officio,  and  bail 
by  the   king's   bench.     The   words    of  the   statute 


*  Videtur  que  le  statute  de  raainprize  u'est  que  le  rehersai 
del  comen  ley." — Bro.  Mainp.  61. 

t  "  There  are  three  points  to  be  considered  in  the  con- 
struction of  all  remedial  statutes  ;  the  old  law,  the  mischief, 
and  the  remedy  ;  that  is,  how  the  common  law  stood  at  the 
making  of  the  act ;  what  the  mischief  was  for  which  the 
common  law  did  not  provide  ;  and  what  remedy  the  parlia- 
ment hath  provided  to  cure  this  mischief.  It  is  the  business 
of  the  judges  so  to  construe  the  act,  as  to  suppress  the  mis- 
chief, and  advance  the  remedy." — Blackstone.  i.  87. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  189 

certainly  do  not  extend  to  the  judges  of  that  court. 
But,  besides  that,  the  reader  will  soon  find  reason  to 
think  that  the  legislature,  in  their  intention,  made  no 
difference  between  bailable  and  replevisable.  Lord 
Coke  himself,  if  he  be  understood  to  mean  nothing  but 
an  exposition  of  the  statute  of  Westminster,  and  n<rt 
to  state  the  law  generally,  does  not  adhere  to  his 
own  distinction.  In  expounding  the  other  offence*, 
which,  by  this  statute,  and  declared  not  replevisable, 
he  constantly  uses  the  words  not  bailable.  "  Thai 
outlaws,  for  instance,  are  not  bailable  at  all :  that 
persons  who  have  abjured  the  realm,  are  attainted 
upon  their  own  confession,  and  therefore  not  bailable 
at  all  by  law  :  that  provers  are  not  bailable  :  that  no- 
torious felons  are  not  bailable."  The  reason  why 
the  superior  courts  were  not  uamed  in  the  statute  of 
Westminster,  was  plainly  this  :  "  because  anciently 
most  of  the  business  touching  bailment  of  prisoners 
lor  felony  or  misdemeanors,  was  performed  by  the 
sheriffs,  or  special  bailiffs  of  liberties,  cither  by  writ. 
or  virtute  officii  ;"*  consequently  the  superior  courts 
had  little  or  no  opportunity  to  commit  those  abuses 
which  the  statute  imputes  to  the  sheriffs.  With  sub- 
mission to  Dr.  Blackstone,  I  think  he  has  fallen  into 
a  contradiction,  which,  in  terms  at  least,  appears  ir- 
reconcileable.  After  enumerating  several  offences  not 
bailable,  he  asserts,  without  any  condition  or  limita- 
tion whatsoever,+  "  All  these  are  clearly  not  admissi- 
ble to  bail."  Yet,  in  a  few  lines  after,  he  says,  "  It 
is  agreed  that  the  court  of  king's  bench  may  bail  for 
any   CFime   whatsoever,    according   to   the   circum- 

*  2  Hale,  P.  C.  128,  136.       +  Blackstone,  iv.  296. 


190  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

stances  of  the  case."  To  his  first  proposition  h£ 
should  have  added,  "  by  sheriffs  or  justices  ;"  other- 
wise the  two  propositions  contradict  each  other  :  with 
this  difference,  however,  that  the  first  is  absolute,  the 
second  limited  by  a  consideration  of  circumstances, 
I  say  this,  without  the  least  intended  disrespect  to  the 
learned  author.  His  work  is  of  public  utility,  and 
should  not  hastily  be  condemned. 

The  statute  of  17  Richard  II.  cap.  10,  1393,  sets 
forth,  that,  "  Forasmuch  as  thieves  notoriously  de- 
famed, and  others  taken  with  the  maner,  by  their 
long  abiding  in  prison,  were  delivered  by  charters 
and  favourable  inquests  procured,  to  the  great  hin- 
derance  of  the  people,  two  men  of  law  shall  be  as- 
signed, in  every  commission  of  the  peace,  to  proceed 
to  the  deliverance  of  such  felons,"  &c.  It  seems,  by 
this  act,  that  there  was  a  constant  struggle  betweew 
the  legislature  and  the  officers  of  justice.  Not  dar- 
ing to  admit  felons  taken  with  the  maner  to  bail  or 
mainprize,  they  evaded  the  law,  by  keeping  the  party 
in  prison  a  long  time,  and  then  delivering  him  with- 
out due  trial. 

The  statute  of  1  Richard  III.  in  1483,  sets  forth 
that,  "  Forasmuch  as  divers  persons  have  been  daily 
arrested  and  imprisoned  for  suspicion  of  felony,  some- 
time of  malice,  and  sometime  of  a  light  suspicion, 
and  so  kept  in  prison  without  bail  or  mainprize ;  be 
it  ordained,  that  every  justice  of  peace  shall  have 
authority,  by  his  discretion,  to  let  such  prisoners  and 
persons  so  arrested  to  bail  or  mainprize."  By  this 
■act,  it  appears  that  there  had  been  abuses  in  matter 
of  imprisonment,  and  that  the  legislature  meant  to 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  191 

provide  for  the  immediate  enlargement   of  persons 
arrested  on  light  suspicion  of  felony. 

The  statute  of  3  Henry  VII.  in  1486,  declare*,, 
that,  under  colour  of  the  preceding  act  of  Richard 
the  Third,  "  Persons,  such  as  were  not  mainperna- 
ble, were  oftentimes  let  to  bail  or  mainprize  by  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  whereby  many  murderers  and  fel- 
ons escaped  ;  the  king,  &.c.  hath  ordained,  that  the 
justices  of  the  peace,  or  two  of  them  at  least  (where- 
of one  to  be  of  the  quorum)  have  authority  to  let  any 
such  prisoners  or  persons,  mainpernable  by  the  law,  to 
bail  or  mainprize." 

The   statute  of  1   and  2  of  Philip  and  Mary,  in 
1554,  sets  forth,  that,    "  Notwithstanding  the  preced- 
ing statute  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  one  justice  of  peace 
hath  oftentimes,  by  sinister  labour  and  means,  set  at 
large  the  greatest  and  notablest  offenders,  such  as  be 
not  replevisable  by  the  laws  of  this  realm  ;  and  yet. 
the  rather  to  hide  their  affections  in  that  behalf,  have 
assigned  the  cause  of  their  apprehension  to  be  but 
only  for  suspicion  of  felony,  whereby  the  said  offend- 
ers have  escaped  unpunished,  and  do  daily,  to  the 
high  displeasure  of  Almighty  God,  the  great  peril  of 
the  king  and  queen's  true  subjects,  and  encourage- 
ment of  all  thieves  and  evil-doers  ;  for  reformation 
whereof  be  it  enacted,  that  no  justice  of  peace  shall 
let  to  bail  or  mainprize  any  such  persons,  which  for 
any  offence  by  them  committed,  be  declared  not  fo 
be  replevised  or  bailed,  or  be  forbidden  to  be  replevis- 
ed  or  bailed,  by  the  statute  of  Westminster  the  first , 
and  furthermore,  that  any  persons  arrested  for  man- 
slaughter or  felony,  being  bailable  by  the  law,  shall 
not  be  let  to  bail  or  mainprize  by  any  justices  of 


192  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

peace,  but  in  the  form  therein  after  prescribed."     In 
the  two  preceding  statutes,  the  words  bailable,  re- 
plevisable,  and  mainpernable,  are  used  synonymous- 
ly,* or  promiscuously,  to  express  the  same  single  in- 
tention of  the  legislature,  viz.  not  to  accept  of  any 
security  but  the  body  of  the  offender  :  and  when  the 
latter  statute  prescribes  the  form  in  which  persons  ar- 
rested on  suspicion  of  felony  (being  bailable  by  the 
law)  may  be  let  to  bail,  it  evidently  supposes  that 
there  are  some  cases  not  bailable  by  the  law.    It  may 
*be  thought,  perhaps,  that  I  attribute  to  the  legisla- 
ture an  appearance  of  inaccuracy  in  the  use  of  terms 
merely  to  serve  my  present  purpose.     But,  in  truth, 
it  would  make  more  forcibly  for  my  argument,  to 
presume,  that  the  legislature  were  constantly  aware 
of  the  strict  legal  distinction  between  bail  and  reple- 
vy, and  that  they  always  meant  to  adhere  to  it.t    For 
if  it  be  true  that  replevy  is  by  the  sheriffs,  and  bail 
by  the  higher  courts  at  Westminster  (which  I  think 
no  lawyer  will  deny,)  it  follows,  that  when  the  legis- 
lature expressly  says  that  any  particular  offence  is  by 
law  not  bailable,  the  superior  courts  are  comprehend- 
ed in  the  prohibition,  and  bound  by  it.     Otherwise, 
unless  there  was  a  positive  exception  of  the  superior 
courts  (which  I  affirm  there  never  was  in  any  statute 
relative  to  bail)  the  legislature  would  grossly  contra- 
dict themselves,  and  the  manifest  intention  of  the  law 


*  2  Hale,  P.  C.  ii.  124. 

f  Vide  2d  Inst.  150, 186,  "  The  word  repUvisable  never 
signifies  bailable.  Bailable  is  in  a  court  of  record,  by  the 
king's  justices ;  but  replevisable  is  by  the  sheriff." — Seidell} 
State  Trials;  vii.  149. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  193 

be  evaded.  It  is  an  established  rule,  that,  when  the 
law  is  special,  and  reason  of  it  general,  it  is  to  be 
generally  understood ;  and  though,  by  custom,  a 
latitude  be  allowed  to  the  court  of  king's  bench,  (to 
consider  circumstances  inductive  of  a  doubt,  whether 
the  prisoner  be  guilty  or  innocent)  if  this  latitude  be 
taken  as  an  arbitrary  power  to  bail,  when  no  circum- 
stances whatsoever  are  alleged  in  favour  of  the  prison- 
er, it  is  a  power  without  right,  and  a  daring  viola- 
tion of  the  whole  English  law  of  bail. 

The  act  of  the  31st  of  Charles  the  Second  (com- 
monly called  the  Habeas  Corpus  act)  particularly  de- 
clares, that  it  is  not  meant  to  extend  to  treason  or 
felony,  plainly  and  specially  expressed  in  the  warrant 
of  commitment.  The  prisoner  is  therefore  left  to 
seek  his  Habeas  Corpus  at  common  law  and  so  far 
was  the  legislature  from  supposing  that  persons  (com- 
mitted for  treason  or  felony,  plainly  and  specially 
expressed  in  the  warrant  of  commitment)  could  be 
let  to  bail  by  a  single  judge,  or  by  the  whole  court, 
that  this  very  act  provides  a  remedy  for  such  persons, 
in  case  they  are  not  indicted  in  the  course  of  the  term 
or  sessions  subsequent  to  their  commitment.  The 
law  neither  suffers  them  to  be  enlarged  before  trial, 
nor  to  be  imprisoned  after  the  time  in  which  they 
ought  regularly  to  be  tried.  In  this  case  the  law 
says,  "  It  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the 
judges  of  the  court  of  king's  bench,  and  justices  of 
oyer  and  terminer,  or  general  gaol  delivery,  and  they 
are  hereby  required,  upon  motion  made  to  them  in 
open  court,  the  last  day  of  the  term,  session,  or  gaol 
delivery,  either  by  the  prisoner,  or  any  one  in  his 
behalf,  to  set  at  liberty  the  prisoner  upon  bail,  unless 

VOL.  ii.  I  13 


194  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

it  appear  to  the  judges  and  justices,  upon  oath  made, 
that  the  witnesses  for  the  king  could  not  be  produced 
the  same  term,  sessions,  or  gaol  delivery."  Upon 
the  whole  of  this  article  I  observe,  1.  That  the  pro- 
vision made  in  the  first  part  of  it  would  be,  in  a  great 
measure,  useless  and  nugatory,  if  any  single  judge 
might  have  bailed  the  prisoner  ex  arbitrio  during  the 
vacation,  or  if  the  court  might  have  bailed  him  im- 
mediately after  the  commencement  of  the  term  or  ses- 
sions. 2.  When  the  law  says,  It  shall  and  may  be 
lawful  to  bail  for  felony  under  particular  circum- 
stances, we  must  presume,  that,  before  the  passing 
of  that  act,  it  was  not  lawful  to  bail  under  those  cir- 
cumstances. The  terms  used  by  the  legislature  are 
enacting,  not  declaratory.  3.  Notwithstanding  the 
party  may  have  been  imprisoned  during  the  greatest 
part  of  the  vacation,  and  during  the  whole  session, 
the  court  are  expressly  forbidden  to  bail  him,  from 
that  session  to  the  next,  if  oath  be  made  that  the 
witnesses  for  the  king  could  not  be  produced  that  same 
term  or  sessions. 

Having  faithfully  stated  the  several  acts  of  parlia- 
ment relative  to  bail  in  criminal  cases,  it  may  be  use- 
ful to  the  reader  to  take  a  short  historical  review  of 
the. law  of  bail,  through  its  various  gradations  and 
improvements. 

By  the  ancient  common  law,  before  and  since  the 
conquest,  all  felonies  were  bailable,  till  murder  was 
excepted  by  statute ;  so  that  persons  might  be  ad- 
mitted to  bail,  before  conviction,  almost  in  every  case. 
The  statute  of  Westminster  says,  that  before  that 
time,  it  had  not  been  determined  which  offences  were 
replevisable,   and  which  were  not,   whether  by  the 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  196 

common  writ  de  homine  replegiantlo,  or  ex  officio  by 
the   sheriff.     It  is  very  remarkable,   that  the  abuses 
arising  from  this  unlimited  power  of  replevy,  dread- 
ful as  they  were,  and  destructive  to  the  peace  of  soci- 
ety, were  not  corrected   or  taken  notice  of  by  the 
legislature,  until   the  commons  of  the  kingdom  had 
obtained  a  share  in  it  by  their  representatives  ;  but 
the   house  of  commons   had   scarce  begun  to  exist, 
when  these  formidable  abuses  were  corrected  by  the 
statute  of  Westminster.     It  is  highly  probable,  that 
the  mischief  had  been   severely  felt   by  the  people, 
although  no  remedy  had  been  provided  for  it  by  the 
Norman   kings  or  barons.     "  The*  iniquity  of  the 
times  was   so   great,   as  it  even  forced  the  subjects  to 
forego  that,  which  was  in  account  a  great  liberty,  to 
slop  the  cause  of  a  growing  mischief."     The  pream- 
ble to  the  statutes  made  by  the  first  parliament  of 
Edward  the  First,  assigns  the  reason  of  calling  it,f 
"  because  the  people  had   been  otherwise  entreated 
than  they  ought  to  be,  the  peace  less  kept,  the  laws 
less  used,  and  offenders  less  punished  than  they  ought 
to  be,   by  reason  whereof  the  people  feared  less  to 
offend ;"  and  the  first  attempt  to  reform  these  various 
abuses  was  by  contracting  the  power  of  replevying 
felons. 

For  above  two  centuries  following,  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  any  alteration  was  made  in  the  law  of  bail, 
except  that  being  taken  with  vert  or  venison  was  de- 
clared to  be  equivalent  to  indictment.     The  legisla- 


*  Selden,  by  N.  Bacon,  182. 
t  Parliamentary  History,  i.  82. 


196  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

ture  adhered  firmly  to  the  spirit  of  the   statute   of 

Westminster.     The   statute   of  the  27th  of  Edward 

the   First  directs  the  justices  of  assize  to  inquire  and 

punish  officers  bailing  such  as  were  not  bailable.    As 

for  the  judges  of  the  superior  courts,  it  is  probable, 

that  in  those  days  they  thought  themselves  bound  by 

the  obvious   intent   and  meaning  of  the  legislature 

They  considered  not  so  much  to  what  particular  per 

sons  the  prohibition  was  addressed,  as  what  the  thing 

was   which  the   legislature  meant  to  prohibit ;  well 

knowing   that   ia    law,    quando    aliqidd   prohibetur. 

prohibetur    et    omne    per    quod    devenitur   ad   illud. 

"  When   any  thing   is  forbidden,   all  the  means  by 

which  the  same  thing  mny  be  compassed  or  done  are 

equally  forbidden." 

By  the  statute  of  Richard  the  Third,  the  power  of 
bailing  was  a  little  enlarged  ;  every  justice  of  peace 
was  authorised  to  bail  for  felony ;  but  they  were  ex- 
pressly confined  to  persons  arrested  on  light  suspi- 
cion ;  and  even  this  power,  so  limited,  was  found  to 
produce  such  inconveniences,  that  in  three  years 
after  the  legislature  found  it  necessary  to  repeal  it. 
Instead  of  trusting  any  longer  to  a  single  justice  of 
peace,  the  act  of  3  Henry  VII.  repeals  the  preceding 
act,  and  directs,  "  That  no  prisoner  (of  those  who 
are  mainpernable  by  the  law)  shall  be  let  to  bail  or 
mainprise  by  less  than  two  justices,  whereof  one  to  be 
of  the  quorum." 

And  so  indispensably  necessary  was  this  provision 
thought  for  the  administration  of  justice,  and  for  the 
security  and  peace  of  society,  that  at  this  time  an  oath 
was  proposed  by  the  king,  to  be  taken  by  the  knights 
and  esquires  of  his  household,  by  the  members  of  the 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  19? 

house  of  commons,  and  by  the  peers  spiritual  and 
temporal,  and  accepted  and  sworn  to  quasi  una  voce 
by  them  all,  which,  among  other  engagements,  binds 
them  not  to  let  any  man  to  bail  or  mainprize,  "  know 
ing  and  deeming  him  to  be  a  felon,  upon  your  honour 
and  worship.     So  help  you  God  and  all  saints."* 

In  about  half  a  century,  however,  even  these  pro- 
visions were  found  insufficient.  The  act  of  Henry  the 
Seventh  was  evaded,  and  the  legislature  once  more 
■obliged  to  interpose.  The  act  of  1  and  2  of  Philip 
and  Mary  takes  away  entirely  from  the  justices  all 
power  of  bailing  for  offences  declared  not  bailable  by 
the  statute  of  Westminster. 

The  illegal  imprisonment  of  several  persons,  who 
had  refused  to  contribute  to  a  loan  exacted  by  Charles 
the  First,  and  the  delay  of  the  habeas  corpus,  and 
subsequent  refusal  to  bail  them,  constituted  one  of 
the  first  and  most  important  grievances  of  that  reign. 
Yet  when  the  house  of  commons,  winch  met  in  the 
year  1623,  resolved  upon  measures  of  the  most  firm 
and  strenuous  resistance  to  the  power  of  imprison- 
ment, assumed  by  the  king  or  privy  council,  and  to 
the  refusal  to  bail  the  part}-  on  the  return  of  the  ha- 
beas corpus  ;  they  did  expressly,  in  all  their  resolu- 
tions, make  an  exception  of  commitments,  where  the 
cause  of  the  restraint  was  expressed,  and  did  by  law 
justify  the  commitment.  The  reason  of  the  distinc- 
tion is,  that  whereas,  when  the  cause  of  commitment 
is  expressed,  the  crime  is  then  known,  and  the  offen- 
der must  be  brought  to  the  ordinary  trial  :  if,  on  the 


*  Parliamentary  History,  ii.  519. 


198  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

contrary,  no  cause  of  commitment  be  expressed,  and 
the  prisoner  be  thereupon  remanded,  it  may  operate 
to  perpetual  imprisonment.  This  contest  with  Charles 
the  First  produced  the  act  of  the  16th  of  that  king;, 
by  which  the  court  of  king's  bench  are  directed, 
within  three  days  after  the  return  to  the  habeas  cor- 
pus, to  examine  and  determine  the  legality  of  any 
commitment  by  the  king  or  privy  council,  and  to  do 
what  in  justice  shall  appertain,  in  delivering,  bailing, 
or  remanding  the  prisoner.  Now,  it  seems,  it  is  un- 
necessary for  the  judge  to  do  what  appertains  to  jus- 
tice. The  same  scandalous  traffic,  in  which  we  have 
seen  the  privilege  of  parliament  exerted  or  relaxed, 
to  gratify  the  present  humour,  or  to  serve  the  imme- 
diate purpose  of  the  crown,  is  introduced  into  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  The  magistrate,  it  seems,  has 
now  no  rule  to  follow,  but  the  dictates  of  personal 
enmit\',  national  partiality,  or  perhaps  the  most  pros- 
tituted corruption. 

To  complete  this  historical  inquiry,  it  only  remains 
to  be  observed,  that  the  habeas  corpus  act  of  31  of 
Charles  the  Second,  so  justly  considered  as  another 
Magna  Charta  of  the  kingdom,  "  extends*  only  to 
the  case  of  commitments  for  such  criminal  charge  as 
can  produce  no  inconvenience  to  public  justice  by  a 
temporary  enlargement  of  the  prisoner."  So  careful 
were  the  legislature,  at  the  very  moment  when  they 
were  providing  for  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  not  to 
furnish  any  colour  or  pretence  for  violating  or  evad- 
ing the  established  law  of  bail  in  higher  criminal  of- 


*  Blackstone,  iv.  137- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  199 

$mces.  But  the  exception,  stated  in  the  body  of  the 
act,  puts  the  matter  out  of  all  doubt.  After  direct- 
ing the  judges  how  they  are  to  proceed  to  the  dis- 
charge of  the  prisoner  upon  recognizance  and  surety, 
having  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  prisoner  and  na- 
ture of  the  offence,  it  is  expressly  added,  "  unless  it 
shall  appear  to  the  said  lord  chancellor,  he.  that  the 
party  so  committed  is  detained  for  such  matters  or 
offences,  for  the  which,  by  the  law,  the  prisoner  is  not 
bailable." 

When  the  laws,  plain  of  themselves,  are  thus  illus- 
trated by  facts,  and  their  uniform  meaning  establish- 
ed by  history,  we  do  not  want  the  authority  of  opin- 
ions, however  respectable,  to  inform  our  judgment,  or 
to  confirm  our  belief.  But  I  am  determined  that  you 
shall  have  no  escape.  Authority  of  every  sort  shall 
be  produced  against  you,  from  Jacob  to  lord  Coke, 
from  the  dictionary  to  the  classic.  In  vain  shall  you 
appeal  from  those  upright  judges  whom  you  disdain 
lo  imitate,  to  those  whom  you  have  made  your  exam- 
ple..   With  one  voice  they  all  condemn  you. 

"  To  be  taken  with  the  maner,  is  where  a  thief, 
having  stolen  any  thing,  is  taken  with  the  same  about 
him,  as  it  were  in  his  hands,  which  is  called  flagrante 
delicto.  Such  a  criminal  is  not  bailable  by  law." — 
Jacob,  under  the  word  Mane?: 

"  Those  who  are  taken  with  the  maner  are  excluded 
by  the  statute  of  Westminster,  from  the  benefit  of  a 
replevin." — Hawkins,  P.  C.  ii.  98. 

"  Of  such  heinous  offences,  no  one,  who  is  notori- 
ously guilty,  seems  to  be  bailable  by  the  intent  of  this 
statute." — Ditto,  ii.  99. 

"  The  common  practice  and  allowed  general  rule 


200  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

is,  that  bail  is  only  then  proper,  where  it  stands  in- 
different  whether  the  party  were  guilty  or  innocent." 
— Ditto,  ditto. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  bailing  of  a  per- 
son, who  is  not  bailable  by  law,  is  punishable  either 
at  common  law,  as  a  negligent  escape,  or  as  an  of- 
fence against  the  several  statutes  relative  to  bail.'' 
— Ditto,  89. 

"  It  cannot  be  doubted,  but  that  neither  the  judges 
of  this,  nor  of  any  other  superior  court  of  justice,  are 
strictly  within  the  purview  of  that  statute ;  yet  they 
will  always,  in  their  discretion,  pay  a  due  regard  to 
it,  and  not  admit  a  person  to  bail  who  is  expressly 
declared  by  it  irreplevisable,  without  some  particular 
circumstance  in  his  favour  ;  and,  therefore,  it  seems 
difficult  to  find  an  instance  where  persons,  attainted 
of  felony,  or  notoriously  guilty  of  treason,  or  man- 
slaughter, &c.  by  their  own  confession,  or  otherwise, 
have  been  admitted  to  the  benefit  of  bail,  without 
some  special  motive  to  the  court  to  grant  it." — 
Ditto,  114. 

"  If  it  appears  that  any  man  hath  injury  or  wrong 
by  his  imprisonment,  we  have  power  to  deliver  and 
discharge  him ;  if  otherwise,  he  is  to  be  remanded  by 
us  to  prison  again."— Lord  Ch.  J.  Hyde,  State  Trials. 
vii.  115. 

"  The  statute  of  Westminster  was  especially  for 
direction  to  the  sheriffs  and  others  ;  but  to  say 
courts  of  justice  are  excluded  from  this  statute,  I 
conceive  it  cannot  be." — Attorney  General  Heath, 
Ditto,   132. 

"  The  court,  upon  view  of  the  return,  judgeth  of 
the  sufficiency  or  insufficiency  of  it.     If  they  think 


JUNIUS'S  LETTERS.  201 

die  prisoner  in  law  to  be  bailable,  he  is  committed 
to  the  marshal,  and  bailed  ;  if  not,  he  is  remanded." 
Through  the  whole  debate,  the  objection  on  the 
part  of  the  prisoners  was,  that  no  cause  of  commit- 
ment was  expressed  in  the  warrant ;  but  it  was  uni- 
formly admitted,  by  their  counsel,  that  if  the  cause  of 
commitment  had  been  expressed  for  treason  or  felony, 
ihe  court  would  then  have  done  right  in  remanding 
them. 

The  attorney-general  having  urged,  before  a  com- 
mittee of  both  houses,  that,  in  Beckwith's  case,  and 
others,  the  lords  of  the  council  sent  a  letter  to  the 
court  of  king's  bench  to  bail ;  it  was  replied,  by  the 
managers  of  the  house  of  commons,  that  this  was 
of  no  moment :  "  for  that  either  the  prisoner  was 
bailable  by  the  law,  or  not  bailable.  If  bailable  by 
the  law,  then  he  was  to  be  bailed  without  any  such 
letter  ;  if  not  bailable  by  the  law,  then  plainly  the 
judges  could  not  have  bailed  him  upon  the  letter, 
without  breach  of  their  oath,  which  is,  that  they  are 
lo  do  justice  according  to  the  law,"  he— State 
Trials,  vii.   175. 

il  So  that  in  bailing  upon  such  offences  of  the 
highest  nature,  a  kind  of  discretion,  rather  than  a 
constant  law,  hath  been  exercised,  when  it  stands 
wholly  indifferent,  in  the  eye  of  the  court,  whether 
the  prisoner  be  guilty  or  not." — Selden,  St.  TV.  vii. 
230.   1. 

"  I  deny  thai  a  man  is  always  bailable  when  im- 
prisons. '..',  is  imposed  upon  him  for  custody." — 
Ait":  a  ral  Heath,  ditto,  238. 

b  i;. lions  from  the  State  Trials,  though 

othtTu        q<      of'  authority,  it  appears  plainlv,  that 

1  2 


202  JUNIUSS   LETTERS. 

in  regard  to  bailable  or  not  bailable,  all  parties 
agreed  in  admitting  one  proposition  as  incontro- 
vertible. 

"  In  relation  to  capital  offences,  there  are  especial- 
ly these  acts  of  parliament  that  are  the  common  land- 
marks* touching  offences  bailable  or  not  bailable." — 
Hale,  ii.  P.  C.  127.  The  enumeration  includes  the 
several  acts  cited  in  this  paper. 

"  Persons  taken  with  the  manouvre  are  not  baila- 
ble, because  it  is  furtum  manifestum" — Male,  ii. 
P.  C.  133. 

"  The  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  is  of  a  high  nature  ; 
for  if  persons  be  wrongfully  committed,  they  are  to 
be  discharged  upon  this  writ  returned ;  or,  if  baila- 
ble, they  are  to  bailed  :  if  not  bailable,  they  are  to 
be  committed."— Hale  ii.  P.  C.  143.  This  doctrine 
of  lord  chief  justice  Hale  refers  immediately  to  the 
superior  courts  from  whence  the  writ  issues.  "  After 
the  return  is  filed,  the  court  is  either  to  discharge,  or 
bail,  or  commit  him,  as  the  nature  of  the  case  re- 
quires."— Hah,  ii.  P.  C.  146. 

"  If  bail  be  granted  otherwise  than  the  law  allow- 
eth,  the  party  that  alloweth  the  same  shall  be  fined, 
imprisoned,  render  damages,  or  forfeit  his  place,  as 
the  case  shall  require." — Selden,  by  N.  Bacon,  182. 

"  This  induces  an  absolute  necessity  of  expressing, 
upon  every  commitment,  the  reason  for  which  it  is 
made  ;  that  the  court,  upon  a  Habeas  Corpus,  may 
examine  into  its  validity,  and,  according  to  the  cir- 


*  It  has  been  the  study  oflord  Mansfield  to  remove  land- 
marks. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  203 

xmmstances  of  the  case,  may  discharge,  admit  to  bail, 
or  remand  the  prisoner. — Blackstone,  iii.  133. 

"  Harriot  was  committed  for  fqrgiug  indorsements 
upon  bank-bills,  and  upon  a  Habeas  Corpus  was 
bailed,  because  the  crime  was  only  a  great  misde- 
meanor ;  for  though  the  forging  the  bills  be  felony, 
yet  forging  the  indorsement  is  not." — SalJceld,  i.  104. 

;'  Appell  de  Mahem,  &c.  ideo  ne  fuit  lesse  a  bailie, 
nient  plus  que  in  appell  de  robbery  ou  murder;  quod 
nota,  et  que  in  robbery  et  murder  le  partie  n'st  bail- 
lable.— Bro.  Mainprize,  67. 

':  The  intendment  of  the  law  in  bails  is,  Quod  stat 
indiffercnter,  whether  he  be  guilty  or  no  ;  but  when 
lie  is  convicted  by  verdict  or  confession,  then  he  must 
\fc  deemed  in  law  to  be  guilty  of  the  felony,  and 
therefore  not  bailable  at  all." — Coke,  ii.  Inst.  188. 
iv.  178. 

"  Bail  is  quando  stat  indiffer enter,  and  not  when 
the  offence  is  open  and  manifest."— 2  Inst.  189. 

"  In  this  c;u;e  non  stat  indiffer  enter,  whether  he  be 
guilty  or  no,  beigg  taken  with  the  maner,  that  is, 
with    the  .:;   stolen,    as    it   were,   in    his   hand." 

Ditto,  ditto. 

"  If  it  appeared)  that  this  imprisonment  be  just 
and  lawful,  he  shall  be  remanded  to  the  former  gaol- 
er ;  but  if  it  shall  appear  to  the  court  that  he  was 
imprisoned  against  the  law  of  the  land,  they  ought, 
by  force  of  this  statute,  to  deliver  him  :  if  it  be 
doubtful,  and  under  consideration,  he  may  be  bail- 
ed."— 2  Inst.  55. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  load  the  reader  with  any  far- 
ther quotations.  H  these  authorities  are  not  deemed 
■5uinci«:nt  to  establish  the  doctrine  maintained  in  this 


204  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

paper,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  appeal  to  the  evidence  ot 
law  books,  or  the  opinions  of  judges.  They  are  not 
the  authorities  by  which  lord  Mansfield  will  abide. 
He  assumes  an  arbitrary  power  of  doing  right :  and 
if  he  does  wrong,  it  lies  only  between  God  and  his 
conscience. 

Now,  my  lord,  although  I  have  great  faith  in  the 
preceding  argument,  I  will  not  say  that  every  minute 
part  of  it  is  absolutely  invulnerable.  I  am  too  well 
acquainted  with  the  practice  of  a  certain  court,  di- 
rected by  your  example,  as  it  is  governed  by  your 
authority,  to  think  there  ever  yet  was  an  argument, 
however  conformable  to  law  and  reason,  in  which  a 
cunning,  quibbling  attorney  might  not  discover  a  flaw. 
But,  taking  the  whole  of  it  together,  I  affirm,  that  it 
constitutes  a  mass  of  demonstration,  than  which 
nothing  more  complete  or  satisfactory  can  be  offered 
to  the  human  mind.  How  an  evasive,  indirect  reply 
will  stand  with  your  reputation,  or  how  far  it  will  an- 
swer in  noint  of  defence,  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of 
lords,  is  worth  your  consideration.  If,  after  all  that 
has  been  said,  it  should  still  be  maintained,  that  the 
court  of  king's  bench,  in  bailing  felons,  are  exempted 
from  all  legal  rules  whatsoever,  and  that  the  judge 
has  no  direction  to  pursue, -but  his  private  affections, 
or  mere  unquestionable  will  and  pleasure,  it  will  fol- 
low plainly,  that  the  distinction  between  bailable  and 
not  bailable,  uniformly  expressed  by  the  legislature, 
current  through  all  our  law  books,  and  admitted  by 
all  our  great  lawyers,  without  exception,  is,  in  one 
sense,  a  nugatory,  in  another,  a  pernicious,  distinc- 
tion. It  is  nugatory,  as  it  supposes  a  difference  in 
the  bailable  quality  of  offences,  when,  in  effect,  the 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  205 

distinction  refers  only  to  the  rank  cf  the  magistrate. 
It  is  pernicious,  as  it  implies  a  rule  oi'  law,  which 
yet  the  judge  is  not  bound  to  pay  the  least  regard 
to  ;  and  impresses  an  idea  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people,  that  the  judge  is  wiser  and  greater  than  the 
law. 

It  remains  only  to  apply  the  law,  thus  stated,  to  the 
fact  in  question.  By  an  authentic  copy  of  the  mitti- 
mus, it  appears  that  John  Eyre  was  committed  for 
felony,  plainly  and  specially  expressed  in  the  warrant 
of  commitment.  He  was  charged  before  alderman 
Halifax,  by  the  oath  of  Thomas  Fielding,  William 
Holder,  William  Payne,  and  William  Nash,  for  felo- 
niously stealing  eleven  quires  of  writing  paper,  value 
six  shillings,  the  property  of  Thomas  Beach,  &ic. 
By  the  examinations  upon  oath  of  the  four  persons 
mentioned  in  the  mittimus,  it  was  proved,  that  large 
quantities  of  paper  had  been  missed  ;  and  that  eleven 
quires  (previously  marked,  from  a  suspicion  that 
Eyre  was  the  thief)  were  found  upon  him.  Many 
other  quires  of  paper,  marked  in  the  same  manner, 
were  found  at  his  lodgings ;  and  after  he  had  been 
some  time  in  Wood-street  Compter,  a  key  was  found 
in  his  room  there,  which  appeared  to  be  a  key  to  the 
closet  at  Guildhall,  from  whence  the  paper  was  stolen. 
When  asked  what  he  had  to  say  in  his  defence,  his 
only  answer  was,  "  I  hope  you  will  bail  me."  Mr. 
Holder,  the  clerk,  replied,  "  That  is  impossible. 
There  never  was  an  instance  of  it,  when  the  stolen 
goods  were  found  upon  the  thief."  The  lord  mayor 
was  then  applied  to,  and  refused  to  bail  him.  Of  all 
these  circumstances,  it  was  your  duty  to  have  inform- 
ed yourself  minutely.     The  fact   was   remarkable  5 


206  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

and  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city  of  London  was 
known  to  have  refused  to  bail  the  offender.  To  jus- 
tify your  compliance  with  the  solicitations  of  your 
three  countrymen,  it  should  be  proved  that  such  alle- 
gations were  offered  to  you  in  behalf  of  their  asso- 
ciate, as  honestly  and  bona  fide  reduced  it  to  a  mat- 
ter of  doubt  and  indifference  whether  the  prisoner  was 
innocent  or  guilty.  Was  any  thing  offered  by  the 
Scotch  triumvirate  that  tended  to  invalidate  the  posi- 
tive charge  made  against  him  by  four  credible  wit- 
nesses upon  oath  ?  Was  it  even  insinuated  to  you, 
either  by  himself  or  his  bail,  that  no  felony  was  com* 
mitted  ;  or,  that  he  was  not  the  felon ;  that  the  stolen 
goods  were  not  found  upon  him  ;  or  that  he  was  only 
the  receiver,  not  knowing  them  to  be  stolen  ?  Or,  in 
short,  did  they  attempt  to  produce  any  evidence  of 
his  insanity  ?  To  all  these  questions  I  answer  for 
you,  without  the  least  fear  of  contradiction,  positively, 
No.  From  the  moment  he  was  arrested  he  never 
entertained  any  hope  of  acquittal  ;  therefore,  thought 
of  nothing  but  obtaining  bail,  that  he  might  have 
time  to  settle  his  affairs,  convey  his  fortune  into  an- 
other country,  and  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
comfort  and  affluence  abroad.  In  this  prudential 
scheme  of  future  happiness,  the  lord  chief  justice  of 
England  most  readily  and  heartily  concurred.  At 
sight  of  so  much  virtue  in  distress,  your  natural  be- 
nevolence took  the  alarm.  Such  a  man  as  Mr.  Eyre, 
struggling  with  adversity,  must  always  be  an  inter- 
esting scene  to  lord  Mansfield.  Or,  was  it  that  libe- 
ral anxiety,  by  which  your  whole  life  has  been  distin- 
guished, to  enlarge  the  liberty  of  the  subject  ?  My 
lord,  we  did  not  want  this  new  instance  of  the  liberal- 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  207 

ity  of  your  principles.  We  already  knew  what  kind 
of  subjects  they  were  for  whose  liberty  you  were 
anxious.  At  all  events,  the  public  are  much  indebted 
to  you  for  fixing  a  price,  at  which  felony  may  be 
committed  with  impunity. 

You  bound  a  felon,  notoriously  worth  30,000?.  in 
the  sum  of  300/.  With  your  natural  turn  to  equity, 
and  knowing,  as  you  are,  in  the  doctrine  of  prece- 
dents, you  undoubtedly  meant  to  settle  the  propor- 
tion between  the  fortune  of  the  felon  and  the  fine 
by  which  he  may  compound  for  his  felony.  The 
ratio  now  upon  record,  and  transmitted  to  posterity 
under  the  auspices  of  lord  Mansfield,  is  exactly  one 
to  an  hundred.  My  lord,  without  intending  it,  you 
have  laid  a  cruel  restraint  upon  the  genius  of  your 
countrymen.  In  the  warmest  indulgence  of  their 
passions  they  have  an  eye  to  the  expense  !  and  if 
their  other  virtues  fail  us,  we  have  a  resource  in 
their  economy. 

By  taking  so  trifling  a  security  from  John  Eyre, 
you  invited,  and  manifestly  exhorted  him  to  escape. 
Although  in  bailable  cases  it  be  usual  to  take  four 
securities,  you  left  him  in  the  custody  of  three  Scotch- 
men, whom  he  might  have  easily  satisfied  for  con- 
niving at  his  retreat.  That  he  did  not  make  use  of 
the  opportunity  you  industriously  gave  him,  neither 
justifies  your  conduct,  nor  can  it  be  any  way  account- 
ed for,  but  by  his  excessive  and  monstrous  avarice. 
Any  other  man,  but  this  bosom  friend  of  three  Scotch- 
men, would  gladly  have  sacrificed  a  few  hundred 
pounds,  rather  than  submit  to  the  infamy  of  pleading 
guilty  in  open  court.  It  is  possible  indeed  that  he 
might  have  flattered  himself,  and  not  unreasonably, 


208  JUNIUSS   LETTERS. 

with  the  hopes  of  a  pardon.  That  he  would  have 
been  pardoned,  seems  more  than  probable,  if  I  had 
not  directed  the  public  attention  to  the  leading  step 
you  took  in  favour  of  him.  In  the  present  gentle 
reign,  we  well  know  what  use  has  been  made  of  the 
lenity  of  the  court,  and  of  the  mercy  of  the  crown. 
The  lord  chief  justice  of  England  accepts  of  the  hun- 
dredth part  of  the  property  of  a  felon,  taken  in  the 
fact,  as  a  recognizance  for  his  appearance.  Your 
brother  S  my  the  browbeats  a  jury,  and  forces  them  to 
alter  their  verdict,  by  which  they  had  found  a  Scotch 
sergeant  guilty  of  murder ;  and  though  the  Kennedies 
were  convicted  of  a  most  deliberate  and  atrocious 
murder,  they  still  had  a  claim  to  the  royal  mercy. 
They  were  saved  by  the  chastity  of  their  connex- 
ions. They  had  a  sister :  yet  it  was  not  her  beauty, 
but  the  pliancy  of  her  virtue,  that  recommended  her  to 
the  king. 

The  holy  author  of  our  religion  was  seen  in  the 
company  of  sinners  ;  but  it  was  his  gracious  purpose 
to  convert  them  from  their  sins.  Another  man,  who, 
in  the  ceremonies  of  our  faith,  might  give  lessons  to 
the  great  enemy  of  it,  upon  different  principles,  keeps 
much  the  same  company.  He  advertises  for  patients, 
collects  all  the  diseases  of  the  heart,  and  turns  a  royal 
palace  into  an  hospital  for  incurables.  A  man  of 
honour  has  no  ticket  of  admission  at  St.  James's. 
They  receive  him  like  a  virgin  at  the  Magdalen's ; 
"  Go  thou,  and  do  likewise." 

My  charge  against  you  is  now  made  good.  I  shall, 
however,  be  ready  to  answer  or  to  submit  to  fair  ob- 
jections. If,  whenever  this  matter  shall  be  agitatexh 
you  suffer  the  doors  of  the  house  of  lords  to  be  shut, 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  209 

I  now  protest,  that  I  shall  consider  you  as  having 
made  no  reply.  From  that  moment,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  world,  you  will  stand  self  convicted.  Whether 
your  reply  be  quibbling  and  evasive,  or  liberal  and 
in  point,  will  be  matter  for  the  judgment  of  your 
peers  ;  but  if,  when  every  possible  idea  of  disrespect 
to  that  noble  house  (in  whose  honour  and  justice  the 
nation  implicitly  confides)  is  here  most  solemnly  dis- 
claimed, you  should  endeavour  to  represent  this 
charge  as  a  contempt  of  their  authority,  and  move 
their  lordships  to  censure  the  publisher  of  this  paper. 
I  then  affirm,  that  you  support  injustice  by  violence, 
that  you  are  guilty  of  a  heinous  aggravation  of  your 
offence,  and  that  you  contribute  your  utmost  in- 
fluence to  promote,  on  the  part  of  the  highest  court 
of  judicature,  a  positive  denial  of  justice  to  the 
nation. 

JUNIUS. 


Lxvin. 

To  the  Right  Honourable  Lord  Camden. 

MY  LORD, 

I  turn  with  pleasure  from  that  barren  waste  in 
which  no  salutary  plant  takes  root,  no  verdure  quick- 
ens, to  a  character  fertile,  as  I  willingly  believe,  in 
every  great  and  good  qualification.  I  call  upon  you, 
in  the  name  of  the  English  nation,  to  stand  forth  in 
defence  of  the  laws  of  your  country,  and  to  exert,  in 

the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  those  great  abilities 

14 


210  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

with  whicli  you  were  entrusted  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind. To  ascertain  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  preced- 
ing paper,  it  may  be  necessary  to  call  the  persons 
mentioned  in  the  mittimus  to  the  bar  of  the  house  ot 
lords.  If  a  motion  for  that  purpose  should  be  reject- 
ed, we  shall  know  what  to  think  of  lord  Mansfield's 
innocence.  The  legal  argument  is  submitted  to  your 
lordship's  judgment.  After  the  noble  stand  you  made 
against  lord  Mansfield  upon  the  question  of  libel,  we 
did  expect  that  you  would  not  have  suffered  that  mat- 
ter to  have  remained  undetermined.  But  it  was  said 
that  lord  chief  justice  Wilmot  had  been  prevailed 
upon  to  vouch  for  an  opinion  of  the  late  judge  Yates, 
which  was  supposed  to  make  against  you ;  and  we 
admit  of  the  excuse.  When  such  detestable  arts  are 
employed  to  prejudge  a  question  of  right,  it  might 
have  been  imprudent  at  that  time  to  have  brought  it 
to  a  decision.  In  the  present  instance,  you  will  have 
no  such  opposition  to  contend  with.  If  there  be  a 
judge,  or  a  lawyer,  of  any  note  in  Westminster-hall, 
who  shall  be  daring  enough  to  affirm  that,  according 
to  the  true  intendment  of  the  laws  of  England,  a 
felon,  taken  with  the  maner  in  flagrante  delicto,  is 
bailable,  or  that  the  discretion  of  an  English  judge 
is  merely  arbitrary,  and  not  governed  by  rules  of  law, 
1  should  be  glad  to  be  acquainted  with  him.  Who- 
ever he  be,  I  will  take  care  that  he  shall  not  give 
you  much  trouble.  Your  lordship's  character  as- 
sures me  that  you  will  assume  that  principal  part, 
which  belongs  to  you,  in  supporting  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land against  a  wicked  judge,  who  makes  it  the  occu- 
pation of  his  life  to  misinterpret  and  pervert  them.  If 
you  decline  this  honourable  office,  I  fear  it  will  be 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  211 

said,  that,  for  some  months  past,  you  have  kept  too 
much  company  with  the  duke  of  Grafton.  When  the 
contest  turns  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  laws,  you 
cannot,  without  a  formal  surrender  of  all  your  repu- 
tation, yield  the  post  of  honour  even  to  lord  Chat- 
ham. Considering  the  situation  and  abilities  of  lord 
Mansfield,  I  do  not  scruple  to  affirm,  with  the  most 
solemn  appeal  to  God  for  my  sincerity,  that,  in  my 
judgment,  he  is  the  very  worst  and  most  dangerous 
man  in  the  kingdom.  Thus  far  I  have  done  my  duty 
in  endeavouring  to  bring  him  to  punishment.  But 
mine  is  an  inferior  ministerial  office  in  the  temple  of 
justice  :  I  have  bound  the  victim,  and  dragged  him  to 
the  altar. 

JUNIUS. 


The  reverend  Mr.  John  Home  having,  with  his 
usual  veracity,  and  honest  industry,  circulated  a  re- 
port that  Junius,  in  a  letter  to  the  supporters  of  the 
bill  of  rights,  had  warmly  declared  himself  in  favour 
of  long  parliaments  and  rotten  boroughs,  it  is  thought 
necessary  to  submit  to  the  public  the  following  ex- 
tract from  his  letter  to  John  Wilkes,  esq.  dated  the 
7th  of  September,  1771,  and  laid  before  the  society 
on  the  24th  of  the  same  month. 

"  With  regard  to  the  several  articles,  taken  sepa- 
rately, 1  own  I  am  concerned  to  see  that  the  great 
condition  which  ought  to  be  the  sine  qua  non  of  par- 
liamentary qualification,  which  ought  to  be  the  basis 
(as  it  assuredly  will  be  the  only  support)  of  every 


212  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

barrier  raised  in  defence  of  the  constitution,  (I  mean 
a  declaration  upon  oath  to  shorten  the  duration  of 
parliaments)  is  reduced  to  the  fourth  rank  in  the  es- 
teem of  the  society;  and  even  in  that  place,  far  from 
being  insisted  on  with  firmness  and  vehemence,  seems 
to  have  been  particularly  slighted  in  the  expression, 
"  You  shall  endeavour  to  restore  annual  parliaments." 
Are  these  the  terms  which  men  who  are  in  earnest 
make  use  of,  when  the  salus  reipublicce  is  at  stake  ? 
I  expected  other  language  from  Mr.  Wilkes.  Be- 
sides my  objection  in  point  of  form,  I  disapprove 
highly  of  the  meaning  of  the  fourth  article  as  it  stands- 
Whenever  the  question  shall  be  seriously  agitated,  I 
will  endeavour  (and  if  I  live,  will  assuredly  attempt 
it)  to  convince  the  English  nation  by  arguments,  to 
my  understanding  unanswerable,  that  they  ought  to 
insist  upon  a  triennial,  and  banish  the  idea  of  an  an- 
nual parliament.  *  *  *  I  am  convinced,  that  if 
shortening  the  duration  of  parliaments  (which,  in 
effect,  is  keeping  the  representative  under  the  rod  of 
the  constituent)  be  not  made  the  basis  of  our  new 
parliamentary  jurisprudence,  other  checks  or  im- 
provements signify  nothing.  On  the  contrary,  if 
this  be  made  the  foundation,  other  measures  may  come 
in  aid,  and,  as  auxiliaries,  be  of  considerable  advan- 
tage. Lord  Chatham's  project,  for  instance,  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  knights  of  shires,  appears  to 
me  admirable.  *  *  *  As  to  cutting  away  the  rotten 
boroughs,  I  am  as  much  offended  as  any  man  at  see- 
ing so  many  of  them  under  the  direct  influence  of  the 
crown,  or  at  the  disposal  of  private  persons.  Yet,  I 
own,  I  have  both  doubts  and  apprehensions  in  regard 
{.o  the  remedy  you  propose.     I  shall  be  charged. 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  213 

perhaps,  with  an  unusual  want  of  political  intrepidity, 
when  I  honestly  confess  to  you,  that  I  am  startled  at 
the  idea  of  so  extensive  an  amputation.     In  the  first 
place,  I  question  the  power,  de  jure,  of  the  legisla- 
ture to  disfranchise  a  number  of  boroughs  upon  the 
general  ground  of  improving  the  constitution.  There 
cannot  be  a  doctrine   more  fatal  to  the  liberty  and 
property  we  are  contending  for,  than  that  which  con- 
founds the  idea  of  a  supreme  and  an  arbitrary  legis- 
lature.    I  need  not  point  out  to  you  the  fatal  purpo- 
ses to  which  it  has  been,  and  may  be,  applied.     If  we 
are  sincere  in  the  political  creed  we  profess,  there  are 
many  things  which  we  ought  to  affirm,   cannot  be 
done  by  kings,  lords,  and  commons.     Among  these, 
I  reckon  the  disfranchising  of  boroughs,  with  a  gene- 
ral view  of  improvement.     I  consider  it  as  an  equiva- 
lent to  robbing  the  parties  concerned  of  their  free- 
hold, of  their  birthright.     I  say,   that  although  this 
birthright   may  be    forfeited,    or    the  exercise  of  it 
suspended   in    particular  cases,   it  cannot  be  taken 
away  by  a   general  law,   for  any  real  or  intended 
purpose  of  improving  the  constitution. — Supposing 
the  attempt  made,  I  am  persuaded  you  cannot  mean 
that  either  king  or  lords  should  take  an  active  part 
in  it.     A  bill  which  only  touches  the  representation 
of  the  people,  must  originate  in  the  house  of  com- 
mons.    In  the  formation  and  mode  of  passing  it,  the 
exclusive  right  of  the  commons  must  be  asserted  as 
scrupulously  as  in  the  case  of  a  money  bill.     Now, 
sir,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  by  what  kind  of  rea- 
soning it  can  be  proved,  that  there  is  a  power  vested 
in   the   representative  to  destroy  his  immediate  con- 
stituent.    From  whence  could  he  possibly  derive  it  ? 


214  JUNIUS'S   LETTERS. 

A  courtier,  I  know,  will  be  ready  to  maintain  the  af 
firmative.  The  doctrine  suits  him  exactly,  becaust 
it  gives  an  unlimited  operation  to  the  influence  of  the 
crown.  But  we,  Mr.  Wilkes,  ought  to  hold  a  differ- 
ent language.  It  is  no  answer  to  me  to  say,  that  the 
bill,  when  it  passes  the  house  of  commons,  is  the  act 
of -the  majority,  and  not  the  representatives  of  the 
particular  boroughs  concerned.  If  the  majority  can 
disfranchise  ten  boroughs,  why  not  twenty,  why  not 
the  whole  kingdom  ?  Why  should  not  they  make 
their  own  seats  in  parliament  for  life  ?  When  the 
septennial  act  passed,  the  legislature  did  what,  appa- 
rently and  palpabty,  they  had  no  power  to  do  :  but 
they  did  more  than  people  in  general  were  aware  of; 
they,  in  effect,  disfranchised  the  whole  kingdom  for 
four  years. 

"  For  argument's  sake,  I  will  now  suppose  that  the 
expediency  of  the  measure,  and  the  power  of  parlia- 
ment, are  unquestionable.     Still  you  will  find  an  in- 
surmountable difficulty  in  the  execution.     When   all 
your  instruments  of  amputation  are  prepared,  when 
the  unhappy  patient  lies  bound  at  your  feet,  without 
the  possibility  of  resistance,  by  what  infallible  rule 
will  you  direct  the  operation  ?     When  you  propose 
to  cut  away  the  rotten  parts,   can   you  tell  us  what 
parts  are  perfectly  sound  ?     Are  there   any  certain 
limits  in  fact  or  theory,   to  inform  you  at  what  point 
you  must  stop,  at  what  point  the  mortification  ends  ? 
To  a  man  so  capable  of  observation  and  reflection 
as  you  are,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  all  that  might  be 
said  upon  the  subject.     Besides  that  I  approve  highly 
of  lord  Chatham's  idea  of  infusing  a  portion  of  new 
health  into  the  constitution,  to  enable  it  to  bear  its 


JUNIUS'S   LETTERS.  215 

infirmities  (a  brilliant  expression,  and  full  oj  intrinsic 
wisdom)  other  reasons  occur  in  persuading  me  to 
adopt  it.     I  have  no  objection,"  &c. 

The  man  who  fairly  and  completely  answers  this 
argument,  shall  have  my  thanks  and  my  applause. 
My  heart  is  already  with  him.  I  am  ready  to  be 
converted.  I  admire  his  morality,  and  would  gladlv 
suhscribe  to  the  articles  of  his  faith.  Grateful  as  I 
am,  to  the  good  Being  whose  bounty  has  imparted 
to  me  this  reasoning  intellect,  whatever  it  is,  I  hold 
myself  proportionably  indebted  to  him  from  whose 
enlightened  understanding  another  ray  of  knowledge 
communicates  to  mine.  But  neither  should  I  think 
the  most  exalted  faculties  of  the  human  mind  a  gift 
worthy  of  the  Divinity,  nor  any  assistance  in  the 
improvement  of  them  a  subject  of  gratitude  to  my 
fellow  creature,  if  I  were  not  satisfied,  that,  really 
to  inform  the  understanding,  corrects  and  enlarges  the 
heart. 

JUNIUS. 


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